Durban - In spite of KwaZulu-Natal being well placed to meet the needs of international beach tourists with its natural appeal, the province is not marketed as a beach resort destination, compared with our counterpart destinations, such as Kenya or Zanzibar.
Belinda Scott, MEC for Finance, made the observation at the sales launch of Blythedale Coastal Resort at Durban’s Greyville Racecourse.
Scott described it as an infrastructural milestone and a significant development for the province.
Scott said the R15-billion investment on the North Coast by the Elan Property Group was expected to yield 10 000 permanent jobs and an additional 110 000 indirect job opportunities over a 10-year period during the various phases of construction.
She said tourism was one of the key sectors in the economy and a source of income, job and wealth creation.
Despite the global economic downturn, the travel and tourism sector has remained resilient as one of the world’s largest economic sectors.
“KZN has moved swiftly to re-examine our tourism products offerings, particularly with a view to bolstering our competitive edge and to gauge what type of beach facilities are viable in the province, as well as the potential markets these could attract,” she said.
Through developments such as Blythedale, Scott said the province would make inroads into the tourism markets that currently favoured the East African destinations.
“The province’s 580km coastline, stretching from Kosi Bay in the north near the border of Mozambique, to the Mtamvuna Estuary in the south near the border of the Eastern Cape – all offer ample opportunities for beach resort developments,” she said.
Last night 642 properties at Blythedale went up for sale by bid throughout the world via live streaming.
Homes and areas in the development were being packaged into themes, such as ocean, beach resort, equestrian, forest, golf and hills.
The luxury resort has not been without its fair share of challenges since its construction began.
In September 2013, the Dube community lodged papers at the Land Claims Court in Randburg, saying the original property deals with (the group), were signed without “proper authority” from the community.
The Dube clan’s consultant, Jabulani Mabaso, said at the time the community was now “complaining they were misled by false promises of major benefits that have not materialised”.
A month later the developers offered a compromise to the community by increasing their shareholding in the development from 20 percent to 30 percent, a substantial share of identified commercial properties to be developed, all income from existing commercial operations at Blythedale, and payment of R20 000 to each family, with half paid before the end of October.
And last year, former Springbok captain Gary Teichmann launched an urgent application over the resort’s business rescue plan, alleging the company’s share register had been tampered with.
Teichmann, in papers lodged with the Durban high court, said at the time that his company, Teichmann Plant Hire and Civils, was a 20 percent shareholder in Blythedale Coastal Resort, but the business rescue practitioner had refused to acknowledge this and he was denied his proper vote when the business rescue plan was approved by creditors and shareholders.
Daily News