Economic impacts of the FIFA Soccer World Cups in France 1998, Germany 2006, and outlook for South Africa 2010

The effects of Football World Cups in Germany 2006 and France 1998 on overnight stays at hotels, national income from tourism, and retail sales are analyzed. For France, no effects could be isolated. For Germany, 700,000 additional overnight stays and US$900 million in net national tourism income could be identified. Novelty effects of the stadiums, image effects for the host nations, and the feel-good effect for the population might be of larger importance. South Africa might have to cope with the underuse of the World Cup (WC) stadia in the aftermath of the tournament. However, there are arguments for why South Africa might realize larger economic benefits than former WC hosts.