Soccer brings visitors
2010-07-08
Devidean Moses
ALTHOUGH the FIFA World Cup tournament is almost over, tourists are still enjoying visits to the Paarl area to explore the beautiful valley. Among the visitors this week were an u.17 team of young soccer players from Thailand. They won the Coca-Cola Cup championships in their country in February and won a trip to South Africa. The group visited the Winelands this week and enjoyed a tour of the KWV wine cellars. Their trip was filmed by a Thai TV channel. Said Chanin Boonra, producer of TV Channel 3 in Thailand, “We watched the match between Germany when they beat Argentina 4-0 - this was very exciting for the young guys and they will take that experience home with them. “We have come for soccer and enjoyed the fabulous host of the World Cup. We have learned about the cultures of the people here in South Africa. “We came to Paarl to see more of the natural beauty of the rural area.” The group have also visited Table Mountain, Cape Point, Sea Point and the Waterfront. The left defender of the team, Chakkit Aaveesri, said that he was really grateful to be able to watch the German defenders play and hoped to use his experience to develop his game. According to Maya Friederich, manager of KWV Wine Emporium, they had experienced an unusual mix of visitors due to the soccer. “We had a surge in the number of South American visitors - from Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay - and a large number of Americans and Asian guests. But very few Germans and Dutch - despite the fact that the latter were camping close by”. “At Nederburg we definitely had more international visitors,” said Sunette Rust. About 20% more visitors than came to this popular winery outside Paarl during June this year, compared to June last year. According to Paarl Tourism they saw a marked increase of nearly 40% in visitor numbers compared to May, while the Afrikaans Language Monument reported an increase of 15% in visitors for June.
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