Tourism projects give KZN a boost

TOURISM infrastructure projects planned for Durban have boosted KwaZulu-Natal’s employment in the province as the rest of South Africa forecast dimmed to modest prospects.

A ManpowerGroup SA Employment Outlook Survey for the third quarter has shown that only 12 percent of employers planned to boost their staffing levels, while 8 percent predicted that they could cut jobs.

The survey said the strongest opportunities for job-seekers would be in the transport, storage and communications sector.

ManpowerGroup South Africa managing director Lyndy van den Barselaar said while businesses and consumer confidence seemed to have improved in recent months, the country’s economy was still weighed down by measured growth and policy uncertainties.

Van den Barselaar said employers were cautious about hiring and 80 percent of companies expected no changes in their employment prospects in the quarter.

She said KwaZulu-Natal’s net employment outlook has risen 11 percent, followed by the Free State at 7 percent and the Eastern Cape at 5 percent.

The Western Cape and Gauteng reported 4 percent and 3 percent respectively.

Key projects

Van den Barselaar said KwaZuluNatal was basking in key tourism projects, including the Durban Film City, the four- and five-star Port Durnford Resort south of Durban, the St Lucia Eco-Hotel and the Kwambonambi Hotel on the North Coast.

She said Durban alone expected infrastructure projects worth more than R50 billion.

The sentiments on major development projects planned for KwaZulu-Natal is supported by the regional focus from the annual hotel pipeline survey by W Hospitality Group, which said last week that Durban had seen a 40 percent increase in planned hotel development compared to last year.

The survey showed that development was slowing in Cape Town and Pretoria, with the number of planned rooms down 22 percent and 28 percent respectively.

Van den Barselaar said employment prospects in Gauteng declined 7 percent compared to second quarter, while the Western Cape eased 6 percent.

“South Africa’s operating systems need to be improved if the country is set to keep up with expected growth of the online space. For example, eshopworld.com’s research shows that South African e-commerce will attract 24.79 million shoppers by 2021.”