Durban - The hospitality industry, Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) and the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry anticipate a “ bumper season” with thousands of holiday makers descending on Durban shores from this weekend.
They all predict a visitor turnout that would surpass
last year’s figure of just over 1.4 million.
The occupancy rate at bed-and- breakfast accommodation and hotels is also expected to increase.
Donovan Muirhead, chairman of the National Accommodation Association of South Africa (NAA-SA) told the Daily News yesterday they envisaged the occupancy rate increasing next week. It was at 75% this week, which, Muirhead said, was more or less the same this time last year.
“From next week we expect an increase, because schools will be closed, and the high occupancy rate will remain until the first week of January. We are definitely ready for the festive season,” he said.
NAA-SA is a national organisation representing guest houses, B&Bs and self-catering accommodation around the country.
Muirhead said after Matric Rage last week, they could tell they were ready.
“We prepare way before the Rage and when that is over, we look at how the establishments coped, re-do everything from replacing the linen to any faulty appliances just in time for the influx of holiday makers,” he said.
Tshishiwa Tshivhengwa, chief executive of the Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (Fedhasa), which represents hospitality establishments, including hotels, said: “As we expect occupancy rates to increase, we also expect more South Africans to be tourists in their own country.
“We can only have the exact number of bookings after January, but we expect this to be a bumper season.”
For those travelling by air, Acsa assured tourists yesterday that King Shaka International was ready for the season.
Colin Naidoo, Acsa’s senior manager of corporate services at King Shaka, said as proof of its readiness, the facility had seen a steady growth.
“Last month King Shaka reached the 5 million mark of passengers. The contributing factors include the new airlines that began operating since the last quarter of 2015 and some in the past few months.
“These airlines include Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, Proflight, FlySafair and Air Namibia,” he said.
In addition to these airlines, Naidoo said Air Seychelles announced last week they would fly directly to Durban twice a week from March.
“With the festive season almost upon us, we will only know the impact of the
number of people who have visited the region through our airport early in January,” said Naidoo.
During the festive season, airport staff and airport security will work overtime, he said.
The Durban Chamber of Commerce said it was optimistic that this festive season would do well for business.
Chief executive Dumile Cele said tourism establishments expected to have a “chock-a-block” season.
“There is still a very good flow of domestic tourists from inland to the coastal regions but especially KZN because we have well-priced tourism offerings for all LSM (living standard measurement) groups.
“Retail, however, is not as optimistic. Consumers are experiencing extreme pressure on disposable income and there are predictions that we might see restraint when it comes to the usual Christmas expenditure,” she said.
On Sunday, Economic Development and Tourism MEC Sihle Zikalala said the tourism industry remained a key contributor to the growing economy of KwaZulu-Natal.
He said tourism contributed about R30 billion to the province’s Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) last year.