All the points have been won, the goals are in and England is ensured a spot in the World Cup.

Mind you, if you’re an England fan, the journey to South Africa is really just beginning.

Following England’s victory versus Croatia, fans have been grabbing World Cup travel packages. But attending the event will require a similar amount of finesse that the national football team will need to make the country proud.

Top travel companies have said that a huge surge in bookings happened immediately following the victory, with some travel packages flying the door the instant England claimed the victory.

According to the travel company Thomson, it had sold 15% of its World Cup packages prior to the Croatia game and they are certain to experience a huge demand over the coming days.

The competition is said to attract up to 100,000 England fans who all make the trip to South Africa at one point or another during the two months of the World Cup. Travel companies are warning travellers that, unlike the last competition in Germany, travelling independently to South Africa for the World Cup could prove a very challenging task, with flights booked up well in advance and journeys between host cities made difficult by the demand.

Managing director of Thomson Sport Nathan Wilson said that the DIY approach may prove to be the most impractical solution for this event as securing a hotel room in South Africa on an individual basis may prove impossible.

Travellers have also been warned not to purchase a World Cup package from unofficial vendors. There are many fake or fraudulent offers out there. It’s on these occasions that fraudsters love to play the most.

Sean Tipton, a spokesman for Abta said fans should only purchase a package from a company authorised by FIFA, the World Cup governing body.

He added that in the past many people booked trips for major sporting events and then their tickets just never arrived.

And remember the old adage: if it’s too good to be true…

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Filed under Travel News, UK News, World News

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This entry was posted on Monday, September 21st, 2009 at 1:00 pm and is filed under Travel News, UK News, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.