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The main airports in South Africa will be ready to welcome the influx of tourists that will be visiting the country to watch the World Cup in two years' time, an industry spokeswoman has claimed.

Three hubs in the African country are set to handle the lion's share of passengers visiting for the World Cup – OR Tambo in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.

Fears have been expressed that South Africa may not be equipped with the necessary skills and infrastructure to deal with such a sudden and substantial wave of visitors.

However, Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) chief executive Monhla Hlahla stressed that the country's gateways will be prepared for the influx, according to SouthAfrica.info.

'We have done a lot with very little. I am proud to say that we are on our way,' she said.

'When it was announced that we would be hosting the World Cup in 2010, Acsa was already in the middle of it...We then planned so that we could accommodate the peak of traffic arriving in 2010 during the weeks of the World Cup.'

The 2010 World Cup is expected to boost South Africa's number of annual visitors by around 350,000.

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