Deputy Sports Minister Gert Oosthuizen said the cricket event in February and March 2003, won by Australia, generated two billion rand in economic activity with about 18,500 foreigners visiting the country for an average stay of 16 days. "In terms of the net foreign spend in the country, the economic impact was 1.1 billion rand," he told parliament on Tuesday.

Senior officials said the 2010 soccer event should far outstrip that amount. South Africa last month won the right to host the first soccer World Cup to be held in Africa. The world's second biggest sports event after the Summer Olympics is expected to give the country a massive direct economic boost and an even greater impact from the financial spin-offs of an improved image abroad.

Research from tourism specialists Grant Thornton Kessel Feinstein suggested the event will pump 21 billion rand into the economy, with direct spending estimated at 12.7 billion rand.