Hundreds of Vietnamese football fans go to South Africa

Over a week before the FIFA World Cup 2010 opens in South Africa (June 11), the number of visitors booking tours to South Africa rose sharply, said some large travel firms in Hanoi and HCM City.
Vietravel said 80 people bought tours to South Africa in the first week of June. Most of them registered the free and easy tour (travel firms only provide air tickets and hotel services).
Saigontourist has had 120 visitors, though the tour price is quite high, at 54.3 million/person ($2500), for eight days in June and 47.6 million dong in July
Fiditour said it only had five visitors to South Africa in June because it couldn’t book more air tickets and hotel rooms. The tour price is 69.98 million/person ($3,200) for 8 days.
Besides hundreds of people buying tours from travel firms, many fans have organised South Africa tours themselves.
Ta My Duong, a Hanoi resident, said his son has bought tickets for the semi-final and final matches on the Internet. Duong, his son and two friends will go to South Africa in early July.
“I’ve arranged my job, booked air ticket, accommodations, etc. totaling around $3000/person [for] one week in South Africa. We will not only watch football but travel some places in the country,” Duong, an architect, said.
The South African consulate in Vietnam said that the number of visitors requesting visas recently rose by a factor of three.