Durban is making a tourism comeback, attracting R60m direct spend this Easter holiday alone

With South Africans able to venture out and about this Easter, many travelled to Durban for some much-needed sun, sand and sea.

According to eThekwini Municipality, the Easter period accelerated the city’s tourism recovery following the impact of Covid-19.

The indicators show that 45 000 visitors descended to Durban for the Easter break, with hotel occupancy rates peak at an average of 60%.

The local economy received a boost with direct spending at approximately R60-million and a GDP contribution of around R150-million, with a total of 320 actualised jobs over this period.

Durban’s beachfront promenade, restaurants around the city and the township establishments were among the most popular attractions for holidaymakers.

eThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said Durban has been working hard since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure the tourism and hospitality industry remains visitor ready within the necessary health guidelines.

“We have been on an aggressive marketing campaign in order to ensure that we remain top of mind as a tourism destination and these numbers are proving that we are on the right track.

“The city has invested over R33m in developing and maintaining the beachfront promenade as part of its Economic Recovery Plan, which focused on reinvigorating the domestic tourism sector.

“This investment as well as other existing initiatives, including the recently announced Blue Flag beaches, paves the way for eThekwini to dominate and grow domestic tourism, an extremely important contributor to our local employment and economy,” he said.

eThekwini has a few plans in the pipeline. Some of the initiatives include the launch and unveiling of new products and hidden gems, and collaborations with other value chain stakeholders, both in the public and private sectors.

Durban Tourism has planned many in-market activations and above-the-line marketing initiatives in key domestic source markets in line with Covid-19 lockdown regulations

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