EThekwini mayor Cyril Xaba paints a picture of what to expect in terms of tourism numbers. | Thuli Dlamini
Durban — With a big rugby match between old rivals, the Sharks and the Bulls taking place in Durban, the City is expected to have another bumper weekend.
The match, which is expected to draw thousands and boost hotel occupancy in the City will take place at Hollywoodbets Kings Park Stadium on Saturday.
Giving an update on the numbers of tourists that have visited Durban shores so far on Thursday, eThekwini mayor Cyril Xaba expressed his optimism on the financial spin off for the City during the rugby match.
Buoyed by the big turnout over the long weekend where the City received 113 000 visitors, mayor Xaba said he was expecting another bumper weekend.
“This coming weekend, Durban will be hosting an exciting rugby match between old rivals, the Hollywoodbets Sharks and the Vodacom Bulls at the Hollywoodbets Kings Park Rugby Stadium. So, it is going to be another bumper weekend. As the leadership of the City, we are delighted that we are now in the middle of the festive season and visitors continue to descend on our shores,” he said.
Xaba said considering that there were only a few days left before Christmas, the City felt it was vital that it communicated this information so that all relevant stakeholders were aware and on board.
Xaba said for the Reconciliation Day long weekend from December 13-16, the City received 113 000 visitors. Of this number, 68 000 were overnight visitors and the direct spend was R463 million with over 2 000 direct employment opportunities created. The contribution to the GDP was R1.145 billion. Xaba said these figures demonstrated that Durban remains the premier holiday destination.
He also announced that the hotel occupancy rate was 72%, with market demand concentrating in the northern areas and the beachfront. This was 3% short of the 75% target the City had earmarked for the duration of the festive season.
The mayor was quite confident that the City would go beyond the target as more tourists continue to arrive.
“As we are gearing up for Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebrations, we are confident that visitors will continue to arrive in droves to enjoy various tourism products the city has to offer. We can confirm that we are on the right path to achieve 75% hotel occupancy rate and 1.3m visitors, a direct spend of R2.5bn, and a GDP contribution of R6.3bn,” Xaba said.
Besides the rugby match, there are a series of signature events that the City has organised to boost tourist numbers and the economy.
The mayor spoke on Thursday ahead of Thursday nights première of the final instalment in the BET movie trilogy, A Wesley South African Christmas. The production, which brings together top South African and American talent, showcases Durban as a prime destination for filmmakers, artists.
On the beach status, the mayor announced that of 23 bathing beaches 21 were open and safe for swimming, adding that recently, there was a challenge with a sewer pump which had resulted in the temporary closure of Westbrook Beach on the north side of the City.
The City is testing beach water weekly, which is being done jointly with the business sector and uMngeni/ uThukela Water for transparency.
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