Durban - The Easter tourism spend registered a slight improvement compared to last year.
An update on the Easter weekend tourism was presented during an eThekwini Municipality Economic Development and Planning committee meeting yesterday.
Deputy head of Durban Tourism Winile Mntungwa said the entity had hosted many activation events to encourage tourists to visit the city.
She highlighted the arrival of the Queen Mary 2 cruise ship in Durban recently as a significant tourism opportunity, and said more cruise ships would be encouraged to visit the city.
Detailing the Easter performance in figures, the report before the committee said: “In occupancy, the figures were standing at 63% last year, and moved to 65% this year.
“This Easter season saw 65% overall occupancy of hotels and non-hotels, with uMhlanga ranging from 70% to 90% hotel occupancies. The city had less than 50% occupancy rate, with (only) the Marine Parade being full with delegates from the Cosafa Games. Ushaka Marine reported an over 80% footfall and sales reaching 2019 stats,” read the report.
The report also showed a marginal increase in visitors from 1 203 115 in 2022 to 1 241 790 this year. There was a direct spend of R2 338 554 430 compared with R2 059 746 180 last year.
It said the GDP contribution had grown from R5.0bn last year to R5.7bn this year, and the contribution to employment had also improved.
The City said that over the coming months it would host several other events that could boost its tourism numbers, including the Tourism Indaba.
Next month, a direct flight between Durban and eSwatini will be launched.
In June there will be the Comrades Marathon, and the Welcoming of the Whales Festival.
Despite the positive trajectory, the entity said it was concerned about crime and its impact on tourism.
Mntungwa said that while metro police and other law-enforcement agencies had a crime-prevention plan in place, it was concerning when there was no visible policing in areas like uMhlanga after dark.
“The feedback that we have been getting is that people are not feeling safe, people are getting robbed inside restaurants,” she added, pointing out that this led to a cascading effect where patrons stayed away from restaurants, which impacted their business.