Lessons learnt from the Confederations Cup

by Khaya South Africa
Aug 11, 2017
2 min read

*image source Ghetti Images

Having just returned from the Confederations Cup, Khaya is happy to share some important lessons we learned. The information in this article will help you with your planning for next year's World Cup.

Around the stadium

![endif]--Never before has a football event had as much security around and inside the stadiums. The security checks at the press stadium entrances were extremely time the security was, indeed, next level. consuming. Each computer needed to be switched on in front of security personnel. Thankfully once you had entered the designated security zones, with a parking pass, all ran very smoothly.

Hotels

The hotels are very strict and ensure compliance with every government rule. Each hotel has to register guests on arrival. A form needs to be filled in and the hotel has to take copies of each passport page. The hotel then sends all the information to the local authorities.

Visitors have to carry all their passport and registration forms with them and have to produce them at each check-in. We witnessed how hotels rejected visitors, because they couldn’t produce all the forms. Khaya will assist in taking the headache out of this process. We have developed a method, whereby we keep all the registrations on hand for you. This will facilitate less problematic check-ins.

[endif]--If you are traveling through Russia and are covering the matches this could become a tedious affair. ![endif]--

Moscow as a hub

It appears that broadcasters’ best option is to base commentators and reporters centrally in Moscow. Since there are no direct flights between the host cities, almost all flights are routed via Moscow. During the Confederations Cup there were several flight delays caused by air traffic, additional security checks and bad weather-. In this instance it would be a good idea to have a hotel room in Moscow as a precautionary measure.

Airlines

Aeroflot is the most popular airline in Russia. It offers the best network and frequency of flights. Nevertheless, it doesn’t always offer the best connections at the required times - which means that other airlines may need to be taken into consideration. When booking flights, one has to be careful as a some of smaller airlines usually do not offer sufficient luggage allowances.

Rail vs air

There are direct trains between Moscow and Saint Petersburg - as well as Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod. Travel time and prices are quite reasonable in comparison to flights.

Organized shuttle

Locals do not recommend taking ordinary taxis from an airport to the city centre. There were many incidents of Confed Cup guests being vastly overcharged by taxis.

Khaya is happy to arrange pick-ups from airports at fixed rates.

Our local scouts take care of you – This is a service we offer in each host city.

In closing, we would like to say that every country has its own way of doing things... Khaya's advantage lies in our teams of scouts who live there. We are able to eliminate the surprises and work towards making your stay as pleasant as possible. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions regarding your future traveling plans to Russia. We will be happy to assist.