Close to 200 000 people visited the shores of Durban during the festive season of December. According to the eThekwini Mayor, Councillor Mxolisi Kaunda, the City recorded over 80% occupancy rates across its accommodation establishments.
“Throughout this festive period, starting from 15 December 2021 to 4 January 2022. This resulted in restaurants and eateries in the townships and other destinations bursting at seams with tourists,” said Mayor Kaunda, who added that the City is not going to take its foot off the pedal. “When it comes to tourism, we are not taking chances.
That’s why we have got our Festive Season Management Committee (FESMAC) that assist us to meet the needs of our visitors. We will forever be indebted to people of eThekwini for their unrelenting hospitality. We desperately needed this development for we were bruised by the pandemic and multitudes of our people lost jobs. I am happy that following these figures, it means we are doing things right,” said Mayor Kaunda. He said over the Christmas weekend period alone, preliminary indicators show that close to 200 000 visitors descended on the City, spending close to R150 million, and the contribution to the City’s GDP is approximately R350 million. “Undisputedly the warmest place to be, Durban welcomed holidaymakers from various locations throughout South Africa.
KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 34% of visitors, 31% came from Gauteng, 12% from the Eastern Cape and eight percent from the Western Cape,” added Mayor Kaunda. Mayor Kaunda calls upon all people from eThekwini and visitors to be ambassadors of the City. He vowed to ensure that even during the course of the year, the City accounts for a lion’s share of tourists by getting the basics right.
