Durban - Despite eThekwini Municipality facing a major backlash over its ongoing sewage woes and opening and closing of several beaches and swimming pools, this has had little impact on the number of visitors expecting to spend Christmas and possibly the New Year in the province.
Meanwhile, load shedding is negatively affecting all of the hospitality industry in South Africa.
Hospitality association Fedhasa said they are seeing several hotels belonging to large chains reporting occupancy levels close to pre-Covid numbers.
Fedhasa national chairperson Rosemary Anderson said the re-opening of some of the province’s beaches and Marina, Trafalgar, Southport, Ramsgate, Hibberdene and Umzumbe achieving Blue Flag status has buoyed the outlook for KZN this festive season.
Speaking on the occupancy levels, Anderson said it was very good considering the sector is still in recovery.
“Perhaps this also shows us that even though some beaches remain closed and the municipality has not successfully addressed all repairs to their pump stations and waste water plants, the public believes there are many other tourism attractions and offerings in KZN, so the closure of some beaches has not deterred them from enjoying what the province has to offer,” she said.
She said that Fedhasa has not had observed any trends of cancellations reported to the association.
“Some of the reasons for this could be that albeit some of the beaches are closed, there are always alternative beaches to be able to enjoy without travelling big distances. The other reason is that many tourists are going back to their home province and are there to visit friends and family and to enjoy the many other attractions there are to indulge in while in KZN,” Anderson said.
Meanwhile, she said load shedding is negatively affecting the entire hospitality industry in SA.
Anderson said sadly, those worst affected are the smaller hospitality businesses that do not have capital to invest in alternative energy supplies.
“The inconsistent and erratic electricity supply also makes it difficult to keep one’s fresh produce from going off, so as a result many smaller establishments are having to buy daily stocks of produce and not buying in bulk, which is causing the lowering of profit margins and adding trouble of having to buy stock daily,” she said.
In a media statement on Tuesday, Durban mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said it is exciting that people continue to choose Durban as the city of choice for their holiday. He appealed to the public to adhere to safety precautions to ensure an incident-free festive season.
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