Durban - The hospitality industry in KwaZulu-Natal has said it was preparing for a quieter festive season than normal but that the situation was “not desperate”.
uMhlanga Tourism head Peter Rose said that on the North Coast there was more accommodation still available than there had been at this time in previous years.
“However, some establishments have some good bookings,” Rose said, “But it does look like it’s going to be a tough Christmas.”
Durban West Community Tourism chairman Barry Livsey, who runs a bed and breakfast, agreed that business was quiet.
“
That’s the feeling I’m getting anyway,” he said.
But Livsey was quick to point out that it was still early in the season and he expected business to pick up in the next few days.
He encouraged those seeking accommodation to consider the Durban West area.
“We are central and have some excellent facilities.”
News from these local tourism bodies was in contrast to the Department of Tourism’s announcement that it was gearing up for a “bumper” season.
Tourism MEC Michael Mabuyakhulu said that he was expecting 1.3 million holidaymakers to descend on KZN shores in the coming weeks. This is in comparison with the 1.2 million who visited the province over this period last year.
Mabuyakhulu said the province had already begun to see a “healthy trickle” of tourists from Gauteng, Mpu-malanga and Limpopo. This was despite the “moderately depressed economic climate”.
Hotel occupancy was increasing and people were beginning to spend again, he said.
The department has estimated that local and international tourists – from as far afield as the UK, the US, Germany, India and the Netherlands – would bring in more than R2-billion this festive season.
Gerhard Patzer, the chairman of the region’s Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa, echoed the department’s expectations.
He said bookings at mainstream hotels had already exceeded those from last year. - The Mercury