Fears that petrol and toll fee increases might hit the KwaZulu-Natal Easter holiday trade have proved unfounded.
|||KwaZulu-Natal - Fears that petrol and toll fee increases might hit the KwaZulu-Natal Easter holiday trade have proved unfounded as crowds have thronged beaches, malls and the Splashy Fen Music Festival.
“We were nervous, but I think we are going to be pleasantly surprised when the final figures come in,” an upbeat Michael Bertram, said the chief executive of South Coast Tourism.
“We are virtually chock-a-block, with 90 percent occupancy from Scottburgh to Port Edward.”
The Easter holidays, coupled with last week’s Brics Summit, has been good news for Durban’s hospitality business.
“We were full, full, full for Brics and we were still trying to place people at the 11th hour. It was amazing,” said Heather Hunter, chairwoman of the KZN Bed & Breakfast Association.
And although there were the usual cancellations for Easter, when the word went out on the association’s network, the vacancies were snapped up within an hour, she said.
Hotels up and down the coast had also done well, with Durban and uMhlanga reporting more than 90 percent occupancies, said Mike Jackson, the new chairman of the KZN branch of the Federated Hospitality Association of SA.
“The beaches have been busy and the Festival of Chariots attracted tens of thousands of people to Durban,” he said.
Two thousand Easter egg fans – including plenty of adults – turned up at uShaka Marine World to take part in the Easter egg hunt for 100 000 eggs and treats.
“And the special Easter dolphin show was superb,” said uShaka chief executive, Shawn Thompson.
Rowan Clelland, organiser of the Vodacom Easter Fever events in Margate and Ballito, said the beach festivals had been “fantastic”, with plenty of people on the beaches.
“Although Easter has fallen a little earlier this year, visitors are still getting our summer weather of 28ºC.”
Kim McCarthy, chairwoman of Sapphire Coast Tourism (eManzimtoti), said the organisation and her team had managed to pull a rabbit out the hat after funding for beach activities had not come through from the city in time to fund a detailed programme of events.
“Budgets were submitted to Durban Tourism in November for the first six months of the year, but we were told that our budget would only be submitted to the council for approval at the end of March and that was too late for us to organise what we had been planning,” she said.
But, when a local business heard about their scaled down programme, it came forward to sponsor a detailed Easter programme.
“In the end, everything turned out absolutely perfect. We also had fabulous weather, fun events and full occupancy.
“We hope our visitors enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed having and entertaining them,” she said.
In a report tabled at the council’s medium term budget on Thursday, it was stated that the second phase of the beachfront refurbishment programme (to Blue Lagoon) was well under way, with the outstanding work expected to be completed next month.
The upgrade would give the city a picturesque facelift, mayor James Nxumalo said when he tabled the budget.
“Durban is predicted to be the fastest growing tourism city in Africa … and one of the fastest growing tourist destinations in the world,” he told councillors.
Meanwhile, Independent Newspapers photographer Shelley Kjonstad, who has attended countless Splashy Fens in the Drakensberg, said more than 8 000 people had flocked to the venue this year. There were new experiences for the fans, including the arrival of the Red Bull aerobatics team to thrill the crowds.
“The numbers are up and there are very good bands. There is also a music tent down at the river,” she said. For out-of-town holidaymakers, the exodus is expected to begin early on Monday, although event organisers predicted it could be delayed until tonight if the sunny weather holds.
Daily News
