eThekwini municipality says security measures will guarantee the safety of visitors during the summer as it gears up for the festive season.
Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said 2023 has seen the city’s tourism numbers edge closer to pre-Covid-19 levels, largely because of a comparatively disaster-free year and repairs to infrastructure damaged in the April 2022 floods.
“The progress we’ve made in rebuilding the city after devastating floods has contributed immensely to the increase in the number of visitors to Durban. This year we’ve seen an influx of 123,364 international passengers at King Shaka International Airport, marking a 126% increase from the previous year. Domestic arrivals have seen a 22% rise, amounting to 2.1-million passengers.”
Kaunda launched Durban’s festive season campaign at Silokazis holiday resort in Inanda on Thursday.
He said the city was expecting 950,000 visitors and a 62% occupancy rate, a 5% increase from the 57% last year.
“This will result in direct spend of more than R2.1bn and a R5.2bn contribution to GDP, as well as 10,000 job opportunities generated during this season.
“We started regaining our strength during the Easter holidays and the industry is now bouncing back. The first quarter of 2023 saw a remarkable resurgence in international tourism with figures doubling from the same period in 2022.”
To ensure the safety of visitors, Kaunda said the city has started to beef up law enforcement personnel at tourism sites.
“Our metro police are doing their best to maintain high visibility at tourist attractions and areas we’ve identified as crime hotspots to ensure the safety of visitors and residents. We’ve taken a decision in eThekwini council to employ 400 metro police every year.”
He called for greater support for community-based safety initiatives such as community policing forums by government and the private sector.
“They are doing this out of their own will because they understand the communities they serve can’t afford to pay for their services. Therefore it’s important for us to support them, because you see a difference in crime statistics wherever they exist, crime is going down.”
Durban tourism had a torrid time in 2022 with ageing infrastructure, not helped by the April floods, resulting in the closure of some beaches and swimming pools during the summer season.
However, Kaunda said the city has done enough to fix it.
“We assure visitors that when they arrive in Durban they will find the city clean and beaches in perfect condition because of the work we’ve done fixing our sanitation infrastructure, particularly along the coast.
“The upgrade of four wastewater pump stations in Umdloti and repair of Ohlange pump station have resulted in the opening of Umdloti and Umhlanga main beaches which are the main attraction for visitors in the north. We’ve also made great progress on the beachfront and south of Durban as most beaches remain open in these areas.”
eThekwini Community Tourism Association chairperson Chris Phili called for greater collaboration among tourism stakeholders to ensure they feed off each other and grow the sector.
“It is important that we synergise the tourism element in what we can expect. When tour operators put a package [together] it must be able to support other businesses within its region.”
TimesLIVE
eThekwini says safety measures in place as it expects about a million summer tourists
Image: Supplied
eThekwini municipality says security measures will guarantee the safety of visitors during the summer as it gears up for the festive season.
Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said 2023 has seen the city’s tourism numbers edge closer to pre-Covid-19 levels, largely because of a comparatively disaster-free year and repairs to infrastructure damaged in the April 2022 floods.
“The progress we’ve made in rebuilding the city after devastating floods has contributed immensely to the increase in the number of visitors to Durban. This year we’ve seen an influx of 123,364 international passengers at King Shaka International Airport, marking a 126% increase from the previous year. Domestic arrivals have seen a 22% rise, amounting to 2.1-million passengers.”
Kaunda launched Durban’s festive season campaign at Silokazis holiday resort in Inanda on Thursday.
He said the city was expecting 950,000 visitors and a 62% occupancy rate, a 5% increase from the 57% last year.
“This will result in direct spend of more than R2.1bn and a R5.2bn contribution to GDP, as well as 10,000 job opportunities generated during this season.
“We started regaining our strength during the Easter holidays and the industry is now bouncing back. The first quarter of 2023 saw a remarkable resurgence in international tourism with figures doubling from the same period in 2022.”
To ensure the safety of visitors, Kaunda said the city has started to beef up law enforcement personnel at tourism sites.
“Our metro police are doing their best to maintain high visibility at tourist attractions and areas we’ve identified as crime hotspots to ensure the safety of visitors and residents. We’ve taken a decision in eThekwini council to employ 400 metro police every year.”
He called for greater support for community-based safety initiatives such as community policing forums by government and the private sector.
“They are doing this out of their own will because they understand the communities they serve can’t afford to pay for their services. Therefore it’s important for us to support them, because you see a difference in crime statistics wherever they exist, crime is going down.”
Durban tourism had a torrid time in 2022 with ageing infrastructure, not helped by the April floods, resulting in the closure of some beaches and swimming pools during the summer season.
However, Kaunda said the city has done enough to fix it.
“We assure visitors that when they arrive in Durban they will find the city clean and beaches in perfect condition because of the work we’ve done fixing our sanitation infrastructure, particularly along the coast.
“The upgrade of four wastewater pump stations in Umdloti and repair of Ohlange pump station have resulted in the opening of Umdloti and Umhlanga main beaches which are the main attraction for visitors in the north. We’ve also made great progress on the beachfront and south of Durban as most beaches remain open in these areas.”
eThekwini Community Tourism Association chairperson Chris Phili called for greater collaboration among tourism stakeholders to ensure they feed off each other and grow the sector.
“It is important that we synergise the tourism element in what we can expect. When tour operators put a package [together] it must be able to support other businesses within its region.”
TimesLIVE
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