Saturday, July 10, 2010

Know Whut I Mean, Wink Wink Nudge Nudge

And speaking of misogyny, South Africa simply assumed the World Cup tourist influx would lead to all kinds of increases in business for sex workers in the country.  Only it turns out if your the kind of person who can travel to South Africa for a World Cup jaunt in this economy, you can afford the actual tourist attractions as well.
The influx of thousands of soccer fans would increase demand on South African sex workers; at least that was the belief of a leading expert prior to the start of the 2010 World Cup.


But it seems fans of the beautiful game that traveled to the Rainbow Nation have created a flop in sex-worker business -- leaving prostitutes out-of-pocket and out of work -- in favor of more high-brow pursuits.

"The World Cup has been devastating. We thought it was going to be a cash cow but it's chased a lot of the business away. It's been the worst month in my company's history," the owner and founder of one of Johannesburg's most exclusive escort companies told CNN.

"No one is interested in sex at the moment. I think we've had three customers who traveled here for the World Cup which has seen my group's business drop by 80 percent. I enjoyed watching the games, but I can't wait for everyone to just go home now!" the madam, who works under the alias of "Tori," added.

The behavior of fans in South Africa has run contrary to what was predicted prior to the start of the tournament after David Bayever told World Cup organizers in March it was feared that up to 40,000 extra prostitutes could converge in the host nation to meet the expected demand.

Bayever, deputy chairperson of South Africa's Central Drug Authority (CDA) that advises on drug abuse but also works with prostitutes, warned: "Forty-thousand new prostitutes. As if we do not have enough people of our own, we have to import them to ensure our visitors are entertained."

But the tournament in 2010, if anything, has seen the modern-day soccer fan attracted to art galleries and museums over brothels.
I could have told you this was coming.  That's simple economics.  If you've got the resources to travel all the way out to South Africa to see a game of "footy" during a massive global recession, then you've got other things on your mind besides prostitutes and you can afford other diversions.

Go figure.

1 comment:

Paul W. said...

Alternatively, soccer fans, instead of being base-born hedonistic hooligans, are simply fans of better taste than icky sports like lacrosse or whatever.

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