Tourism KwaZulu-Natal says they are projecting an increase in the number of holidaymakers who visited the province over the festive season. Although consolidated figures are expected only at the end of this month, tourism authorities say some establishments were fully booked.
However, the Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa says their members in the province are reporting a stagnant festive season.
The Durban Beachfront is usually packed to capacity, especially on New Year’s Day, as holidaymakers enjoyed the beaches and amenities on offer. This festive season saw inclement weather over Christmas and New Year’s dampen the spirits of some holidaymakers.
However, authorities in the tourism industry say it was not all doom and gloom. Tourism KwaZulu-Natal acting CEO Sibusiso Gumbi says he is confident that the statistics will show a positive outcome.
“Well, of course as the province of KwaZulu-Natal, we are so excited we have seen the influx of the visitors into the province. So far, we have done our analysis, even though it is not yet conclusive because the figures will be coming at the end of the month, but in average we have seen an increase in terms of our numbers compared to 2022, then we had an increase of two percent. Remember at this stage we have this two percent increase that has not yet taken into the account all the consolidated figures but we are in for a shock, we received the increase in terms of our performance.”
Durban beachgoers enjoyed some time in the sun during festive season:
The Chief Executive Officer of Umhlanga’s Oceans Mall , Brian Mpono and Gooderson Leisure Corporation chairperson, Alan Gooderson shared their experiences over the festive season.
“But the range of occupancy has been between confidently between 85% and 99% occupancy but on a norm, we range 85 % plus, why because of what we offer is not just a hotel destination but amenities that come with it, the adjacent shopping mall. For this year I think we had a fairly good year compared to last year, we were around 78% plus on occupancy and COVID did knock the hell out of everybody and tourism business but we are improving every year and I’m very positive going forward.”
Meanwhile, Fedhasa East Coast chairperson Brett Tungay says there was no growth in the hospitality sector. He says one of the reasons are that South African consumers are under a lot of stress.
“At this stage just talking around to hotels, restaurants in north coast, south coast, Drakensberg in KZN, figures are unfortunately looking flat this year. We are not seeing any growth in general across the province. It does seem the north coast Ballito did see some good figures, north coast and northern Natal in the game reserves they had good figures, the Drakensberg, midlands, south coast. Durban flat, unfortunately I think a lot of this we got a lot of issues. I think the consumer in South Africa is under a lot of stress.”
A comprehensive audit of the festive season statistics will be completed by the end of January.
