Durban — Statistics have revealed that KwaZulu-Natal, which is still reeling from the April and May floods, received a R2.4 billion boost during the festive season.
That was according to Tourism KwaZulu-Natal (TKZN) which was reacting to the announcement by the KZN Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs MEC Siboniso Duma.
Duma said that KZN welcomed 520 000 domestic tourists and 51 000 international tourists, providing a R2.4 billion injection to the provincial economy (provincial gross domestic product).
He said that in early December 2022, they projected an estimated 760 000 domestic trips and an estimated 58 000 international visitors over the entire summer season.
TKZN said that preliminary figures show that KZN’s occupancy rate from December 26, 2022, to January 1, 2023, soared to an average of 81% across the province against an early forecast for an average provincial occupancy rate of 69% at the peak of the holiday season.
“It is pleasing that the province’s districts beat festive season expectations, as this indicates that holidaymakers took time to explore other experiences offered across the region,” TKZN acting chief executive Nhlanhla Khumalo said.
“The closure of some Durban beaches due to the pollution, saw TKZN implement a strong summer season media campaign telling holidaymakers that only some of eThekwini’s beaches were closed and that KZN had 600km of coastline, with many beaches including blue flag beaches on the south and north coasts. Moreover, the province has an array of other excellent tourist destinations from the Drakensberg to big-five safaris.
“The sharp increase in occupancies in the week from Christmas to New Year particularly in the northern and southern KZN districts suggests that our message hit home. The opening of popular beaches during December and uMhlanga beach on December 23 may also have encouraged last-minute holiday bookings,” Khumalo said.
TKZN said that the tourism trade in the KZN hinterland also reported doing well. South Africa’s fastest growing hotel group, Anew Hotel has accommodations in Kokstad, Newcastle, Hilton, as well as coastal establishments, said it experienced an 80% plus festive season, which was a far better performance than 2021 and slightly better than 2019. Moreover, 90% of the tourists were domestic, as people clearly wanted to “just get away.” It was also reported that there was an improvement in international tour groups coming to experience KZN’s big five safaris, however, this was not yet at 2019 levels.
TKZN also said that in line with South African Tourism, they are using 2019 as a baseline, however, a lot has changed because of the Covid pandemic, including travel patterns and available accommodation and length of stay.
“Post-Covid we have noticed that the holiday season has become a lot shorter starting on December 16, 2022, peaking over the week from Christmas to New Year and then dropping sharply in the first two weeks of January 2023 to 40% and 15%, respectively, as holidaymakers headed home. It must be noted that the province’s festive season figures reflect performance for the December period only and bode well for the final tally when the summer season draws to a close at the end of March 2023.
“Over the next two months, we will welcome visitors for the popular Midmar Mile on February 11 and the Dusi Canoe marathon from February 16 to 18 and an array of business tourism events. We are also confident that we will achieve our projected economic impact for the summer season of R4.1 billion, based on a projected final occupancy rate of 70% by the end of the financial year,” Khumalo said.
Meanwhile, almost two weeks ago, eThekwini Municipality Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said that apart from enjoying the sea, sand, sun and surf, visitors were also treated to a number of signature events such as the Durban Jazz Festival, Fact Durban Rock, Woz’eDurban and many more. We also successfully hosted a PSL soccer match between Kaizer Chiefs and Golden Arrows as well as the rugby match between the Sharks and the Blue Bulls on New Year’s Eve.
“All these activities brought thousands of visitors to the city as the accommodation occupancy rate reached 65%. This translates into 702 735 visitors with a direct spend of R1.5 billion, over R3.8 billion contribution to GDP and 7 775 jobs,” Kaunda said.
Daily News