eThekwini out of touch with tourists

AMBITIOUS new plans by eThekwini Municipality to build a giant Ferris wheel at the Point Waterfront are sure to be relegated to the growing pile of other unobtainable dreams in KwaZulu-Natal.

Our province has for years been awash with revolutionary plans and ideas which have failed to materialise, and the question must be asked – what makes this one different?

The massive Nelson Mandela statue envisaged to stand at the Durban Port entrance, a statue donated by the Chinese government, and a Drakensberg cable car, are among the many elaborate and costly plans that will supposedly boost tourism and economic development in our province.

These initiatives seem to show that KZN’s provincial and municipal tourism authorities don’t really know their customers.

International tourists do not travel to our province for Ferris wheels. They come here for our natural splendour, beaches, mountains, business tourism or wildlife.

Instead of going cap in hand to potential investors and trying to make so-called iconic projects work – the focus should be on rehabilitating our provincial parks, community tourism areas and safeguarding those tourists who do visit central Durban.

Regrettably, a Ferris wheel is destined to become yet another economically unsustainable project – just like uShaka and the Moses Mabhida Stadium – destined to forever be propped up by taxpayers’ money while thousands continue to wait for real service delivery.