Good season for Port Alfred
Crime down, tourism up but more activities needed for visitors’ enjoyment
More visitors, crime under control, prompt cleaning of public facilities and areas and good events that were well-advertised are some of the factors that made Port Alfred’s 2023/24 tourism season successful.
That’s according to an online survey carried out by Sunshine Coast Tourism Port Alfred and the Port Alfred Business Forum. The feedback from members was shared at the organisations’ monthly networking evening on Tuesday January 30.
There was a full house — around 100 people — for the meeting, held at the Royal Port Alfred Golf Club.
Tourism chair Wouter Hensens presented the results of the survey.
On the positive side, according to more than half of the 24 respondents, was that business volumes were better than in December 2022.
There had been a noticeable increase in visitors to Port Alfred — and the season had “started earlier”, with increased numbers noticeable in malls and other public places early in December. There was also a noticeable increase in foreign visitors.
The recently renovated Krantz picnic area had provided a secure environment for picnickers and partygoers. Collaboration between businesses and public officials had ensured other public facilities, such as the beaches and adjacent parking lots, had remained safe and clean for revellers and residents in those areas.
Safety and security across the town had been good, the survey found.
There was widespread praise for the role the municipality and other officials in keeping the town clean and safe.
There had been relatively few service delivery problems (the Wharf Street and Bank Street sewage spills reported in Talk of the Town recently were an exception).
Needing attention, according to the survey, were public drinking — “especially on the beach”; the fact that there were not enough activities in the town over the festive period; unaccredited informal car guards; and a lack of rubbish bins to contain the litter that increased tourism brings.
Business forum committee member Lauren Meyer spoke about the season from the perspective of real estate.
She said that from January to December 2023, 313 properties had been registered for sale. Of these, 174 were freehold and 91 were vacant land. The average price for a freehold property was R1.5m, which was an effective 8% growth in the price of this type of property.
The rainy weather during the
holiday season had played in favour of those selling property: “People view homes when the weather is bad and there was a definite uptick in the viewing and sales,” Mayer said.
She said rentals were good; however, local events needed to be marketed much earlier.
“People decide where to go for their holidays on the basis of what activities are happening there,” she said.
Holiday rentals at the Royal Port Alfred Marina remained attractive, particularly for overseas guests, with the latter laying up to R5,000 a day to rent exclusive accommodation there.
“Return bookings have already been secured for next season,” Meyer said.
“Many individuals and families find a lot of value in Port Alfred and the Sunshine Coast,” Meyer said. “We deal with people every day who absolutely
love this place.”
A common call was made for more activities, particularly for children.
Hensens had referred to the TrainCo project of Don Broudelet and Don Fryer as “a hobby got out of hand”, reporting 1,750 passengers during the festive season.
Meyer and Ed Gutsche recently took over the portfolio of marketing for tourism, and Gutsche described how, with no further funding available from the municipality, they had come up with corporate sponsorships to fund a one-day Port Alfred River Festival.
Other projects of the portfolio included making the organisation’s social media pages more effective.
With the inaugural Port Alfred Easter Festival coming up, the East
Beach public ablutions came into focus. The business forum, Port Alfred Ratepayers and Residents Association (PARRA), Multi Security and other stakeholders are collaborating on a plan to upgrade and secure the public facilities on East Beach.
Committee member Justin Bekker emphasised that the Easter Festival was a platform: “Anyone who has an event over Easter gets marketing for it through this platform,” Bekker said.
“This is destination marketing getting people to see the town.”
So far 13 events had been confirmed for the festival, including the Rip Curl GromSearch and the Rip Curl Cup the second biggest surf event in SA for 2024. The festival is scheduled from March 29 to April 1.
Many individuals and families find a lot of value in Port Alfred and the Sunshine Coast