The South African Government last week denied claims that visitors to South Africa are being overcharged to book hotel rooms during the World Cup this year following accusations of "price-gouging". The denial was based on the results of a month-long study into the rates of nearly 2,500 properties during the tournament by Grant Thornton.

The survey showed that most World Cup accommodation prices had increased but by a reasonable amount and that in most cases the price increase was less than 50% and while it isn't nice, the feeling that you are being taken advantage of, can you really blame business in South Africa putting up prices, if there is the demand?

For the Rugby World Cup, prices went up, just like they did for the Cricket World Cup. It is called supply and demand and while this might sound like we are trying to make excuses, in a competitive market, price will function to equalise the quantity demanded by consumers, and the quantity supplied by producers, resulting in an economic equilibrium of price and quantity. Yes, we did just copy that from Wikipedia.

But, South African Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk also had some things to say about the report.

Marthinus van Schalkwyk
The majority of accommodation establishments in South Africa are very responsible, we know that 74% will be charging prices during the World Cup that are very reasonable. We will continue to do everything to discourage excessive premiums when these do occur. I am satisfied that by far the majority of accommodation establishments are acting responsibly and are sensitive to our warnings about price hiking and its effects.

During the last World Cup in Germany, average accommodation rates were 37% higher than the same period in the previous year, the study showed. The figures for South Africa are also only estimates and can change, the ministry said, and van Schalkwyk urged fans to shop around to get the best deal.