The festive season may officially be over, but fun-seekers are still flocking to KZN beaches and the Durban tourism industry and many business owners are happy with business.
Durban Tourism head Philip Sithole said tourism was well up on past seasons.
“The amount of money made over the festive season is estimated at R2-billion, and we’re still counting,” said Sithole.
Holidaymakers and locals flocked to Durban’s beaches yesterday to take advantage of the good weather, after days of rain.
“The beaches are still full even though the festive season is over. I think the rain this past week contributed because many stayed indoors, but now that the sun is out, they’ve all come to have a great time and that’s why the beach is packed,” said South Beach resident Phakamani Shamase.
Not even high winds could deter visitors from making the most of the sun and sand before most return to work next week.
“This has been the first day since I’ve been in Durban that we’ve had good weather and that we could come down to the beach. We go back to Joburg tomorrow (Sunday), so we’re making the best of our last day here,” said Munira Mahomedy.
“It’s a bit windy, but us Joburgers don’t mind. I don’t know why the weather has been so bad. Maybe it is a ploy by the Durban people to get us Joburg people to go home,” she joked.
Naila Wilson said she was relieved that the rain had stopped and she could sunbathe on the beach again.
“It’s good that it rained, but I think it’s enough now. The weather is beautiful now and it’s good there’s a bit of wind because otherwise it would be too hot,” said Wilson.
“I start work again on Monday and it was so frustrating that I couldn’t come to the beach with the family in the week,” said Chatsworth resident Tony Naidoo.
“I’m going to make the best of it and if it’s sunny again tomorrow, I’ll be back,” Naidoo said.
The hospitality industry reported a better season than previous years.
Sithole said bookings for hotels and B&Bs were averaging 95 percent capacity.
East Coast chairman of the Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa, Gerhard Patzer, said the north and south coasts had been the busiest.
“This is definitely the best season we’ve had in the past four or five years,” said Patzer.
He said Christmas and new year were the busiest, but that their run was not yet over.
“We are still fairly busy and we’ve got the cricket to thank for that,” said Patzer, referring to the T20 cricket clash between South Africa and India at the Moses Mabhida Stadium today.
Shopping malls and restaurants, especially on Florida Road, have also done well, thanks to the rainy weather.
Durban Tourism reported that event organisers, small and medium enterprises and street traders did well with the influx of tourists and holidaymakers from different parts of the country.
Mervin Govender, store manager at Liberty Liquors, said they had enjoyed a good season. “In previous years whisky was the most popular, but the trend seems to have moved to beers and ciders.”
City manager Michael Sutcliffe said Durban businesses could look forward to even bigger festive seasons booms in the future.
“This year has really been great and next year is going to be even better… the planning we did six years ago has paid off… we were looking beyond 2010 and this has definitely been a bumper season.” - Sunday Tribune