Durban - eThekwini Municipality councillor Nkosenhle Madlala says the city has seen a large influx of visitors during the festive season.
Madlala, who addressed a media briefing as acting mayor on Tuesday, said according to its internal analysis, the city had fared well during the festive season and the large volumes of traffic on the N3 heading back to Gauteng was testament to this.
“We currently do not have an exact amount of how much we made during the festive season, but based on our internal analysis, we have done better than expected. I think you have seen the number of cars that are leaving for the Mariannhill Toll Gate plaza, the number of cars that are leaving tell you that visitors did come to Durban,” Madlala said in response to a question on whether the beach closures had affected tourism spend.
About nine beaches remain closed in eThekwini due to high E coli levels in the water. The high levels are due to sewage spills from damaged sewerage infrastructure.
Madlala said holidaymakers did not come to the city just for the beaches and there were other attractions.
“Although they did not flock to beaches as usually expected, they did fill our hotels, guest houses, and many other attractions, because we are not a one-attraction wonder city.”
Brett Tungay, the Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa KZN chairperson, said it was not a bad season for the tourism industry and the city had seen tourism spend.
“In general, the industry had a better festive season. Resorts, hotels and restaurants did well despite the issues around Durban beaches. December is a unique month for the tourism industry because people want to come here to Durban and enjoy themselves,” Tungay said.
However, Tungay stressed the importance of beaches for the province’s tourism industry and said it was crucial for the city to tackle the sewage issues.
“The municipality has not done enough about the beaches and some businesses have suffered a lot. The city has to get their act together and fix this issue surrounding beaches, it has been several months now,” said Tungay.