The Easter season in KwaZulu-Natal is expected to rake in a whopping R1 billion into the provincial economy, with an estimated 250 000 domestic and 60 000 international visitors anticipated to descend into the Province.
For the Easter weekend starting April 19 to April 22, Durban Tourism is projecting 100 000 visitors, spending their money on entertainment, holiday accommodation, car rental and restaurants, among others.
The Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (FEDHASA) are anticipating a “late surge of bookings’’ with hotels in the province already slowly filling up. Restaurants and theatres, and retail shopping are also recording positive numbers for the coming days.
Phindile Makwakwa, Acting Chief Executive Officer for Tourism KwaZulu-Natal, said: “Going on the rate of bookings we have had for activities and accommodation already, KZN looks set for another bumper season. We're proud to be part of what is a vibrant, creative and important economic sector for this region.
“It is all encouraging that holidaymakers have chosen KZN for their next short break or holiday. Our tourism trade have displayed quality in their service and a variety of experiences which can be had here in the Zulu Kingdom.
The most popular sector in the tourism market that normally thrives during this period are the beaches and adventure experiences which are always the main drawcards. Hotels, particularly those along the coast, enjoy high occupancies during this time. The Berg and the Midlands will also have good occupancy during this period, statistics provided by TKZN show.
During April 2018, Tourism KZN statistics show that more than 429 174 visited KZN via air and road - 248 077 air passenger arrivals, 181 097 road traffic coast bound arrivals. Hoteliers revealed that 63,8 percentage of the hotels were occupied during this time.
Since 2013 the average international arrivals in April was just over 62 000 visitors. In 2017, April arrivals was just over 67 000. Domestically, since 2013, the average number of trips undertaken to and in KZN was just over 392 000.