eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba said the city received over 113 000 visitors with an economic spend of R463 million over the December 16 long weekend. eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba said that the City remains on course to reach its target of over 1 million visitors and over R2 billion economic spend by the end of the festive season. Picture: Supplied
Durban: eThekwini mayor Cyril Xaba says the city is well on track to reach its target of over 1 million visitors and over R2 billion economic spend by the end of the festive season.
Xaba, speaking during a media briefing in Durban yesterday said over the December 16 long weekend the city had received over 113 000 visitors with an economic spend of R463 million.
“Of this number (113 000), 68 000 were overnight visitors. The direct spend was R463m, with over 2 000 direct employment opportunities created. The contribution to the GDP was R1.145bn.”
Xaba added that these figures demonstrated that Durban remained a premier holiday destination.
“Our hotel occupancy rate was 72%, with market demand concentrating in the northern areas and the beachfront. While Durban is known for its warm beaches, many visitors flocked to the city during the long weekend to enjoy various attractions, including popular events.”
He added that as the city gears up for Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebrations, they were confident that visitors will continue to arrive in droves to enjoy various tourism products on offer.
“We can confirm that we are on the right path to achieve a 75% hotel occupancy rate, 1.3 million visitors, a direct spend of R2.5bn, and a GDP contribution of R6.3bn.”
Xaba noted that from December 1 to 17, the beaches received thousands of bathers, and reports from paying pools indicate that over 700 000 people visited.
“Close to 800 children who were separated from their guardians were reunited with their families in a short period of time. In this regard, we want to commend our child minders who are doing sterling work.
“We want to inform our residents and visitors that out of 23 bathing beaches, 21 are open and safe for swimming. Recently, we had a challenge with a sewer pump which resulted in the temporary closure of Westbrook Beach.
“We want to commend our staff for working diligently to replace the pump, which resulted in the reopening of the beach.”
Xaba said that as a precautionary measure, when there are challenges with sewer pumps, they close the beaches.
“We test our beach water weekly, and we are conducting joint water testing with the business sector and uMngeni-uThukela Water, and our results have been comparable.”
Jeannie Sarno, chairperson of uMhlanga Tourism, said the Presidential eThekwini Working Group had achieved a lot in a short space of time.
“Durban still has some way to go. Bookings have picked up in regard to last year’s figures, and the city and suburbs are looking in a better place, but our visitors are still not completely convinced to visit us, and I’m sure this has a lot to do with all the negative perceptions of the city.”
Sarno added that they kicked off their uMhlanga Tourism Summer Festival with a trail run on Sunday, and since then, they have been at uMhlanga main beach.
Brett Tungay, the East Coast chairperson of the Federated Hospitality Association of SA (Fedhasa), said that he does expect an uptick in tourism spend.
“It’s good news that everything is working well in Durban for the festive season for the first time in the last couple of years. I expect about a 5% increase in revenue in KZN compared to last year, so it’s good news. I still don’t think we’re back to pre-Covid international numbers, but we are definitely on the right track.”