All indications are that the first normal festive season in three years beat all expectations, with popular tourism destinations anecdotally reporting that they were busy.
While we await the numbers, speaking to members in the three FEDHASA regions we believe South Africans came out in high support of local destinations, despite such challenges as higher domestic airfares and reported water and sanitation issues in some of KwaZulu Natal’s main tourist areas.
FEDHASA Cape chair Lee-Anne Singer told the Weekend Argus that:
“From a trends’ perspective, the usual holiday hotspots enjoyed high support. We also noticed a trend towards last-minute booking and splurging, in line with global travel trends whereby consumers prioritise travel and spoiling themselves, having had to sacrifice this over the past few years.”
FEDHASA East Coast chair Brett Tungay shared with the Daily News that:
Preliminary indications are that the festive season has been better than anticipated in KwaZulu-Natal, especially the eThekwini region. It’s quite a mixed bag and we will have to wait for the statistics coming out in about February. All we have at the moment is anecdotal stuff from talking to different hotels and resorts around KZN.
Acting Durban mayor Nkosenhle Madlala told EWN that despite a shortfall from the high influx of holidaymakers who annually enjoy Durban’s coastline, the municipality is satisfied with the tourist turnout. Over 500,000 beachgoers apparently visited the coast this festive season.
FEDHASA National Chair Rosemary Anderson provided Moneyweb with anecdotal insights about how the festive season went for destinations like Cape Town and KwaZulu Natal, but went further to explain hospitality’s power to generate job creation in South Africa. Listen to her interview with Simon Brown this week.
