City prepares for festive fun
It’s boom time for Durban hotels, which are already experiencing high occupancy rates, writes Vivian Attwood
ALL indications are it’s going to be a fantastic Christmas for those in the hotel and catering trade, with top hotels reporting high occupancy rates that, in some cases, outstrip last year’s. And hoteliers say they give the city a big “thumbs up” for the general holiday readiness of the beaches.
Speaking on behalf of the KZN branch of the Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (Fedhasa) Charles Preece, operations manager, was optimistic it would be a boom season. He praised the council for its overall stance on tourism.
“We all know that budgets are constrained but despite this, Durban did an awful lot in terms of special events during the winter period, which is when we really need to pull out all the stops to attract visitors to our city,” he said.
“The council and Durban Tourism are very aware of the value of tourism to our city and province and are doing great things to promote our attractions.”
He said while it was a little early to predict final occupancy figures over the festive season at local hotels and B&Bs, “Reports so far indicate that it will be a very good period for them again this year.”
According to Tozi Mthethwa, head of communications for eThekwni, it is anticipated that 784 818 domestic tourists will visit Durban over the festive season, and 80 281 foreign tourists will visit in the same period. Together they are expected to spend over R1.6 billion in the city.
One of uMhlanga’s top hotels, The Oyster Box, reports a 95 percent occupancy rate for the Christmas and New Year period, with more than three weeks still to go to Christmas.
Christmas feasts
Publicist Joanne Hayes said the legendary Christmas feasts at the hotel had been booked up for months, and there were only a limited number of seats left for the New Year’s dining extravaganzas.
Getting in on the act is Skabenga, the hotel’s resident cat who will be dressed in a manner befitting an icon.
“From tomorrow, Monday, Skabenga will be wearing the new leather, gemstone-encrusted collar he received for his birthday in October,” said Hayes.
Samantha Croft, general manager, Southern Sun Elangeni and Southern Sun Maharani Hotels, said the hotels were experiencing occupancy rates similar to last year’s, but the hotels had been fully booked for months for the December 28 to January 2 period.
“During the Christmas period, our occupancies average 98 percent,” she said.
“We have tried to encourage holidaymakers to travel to Durban between December 1 and 22 and January 5 and 12 by offering a special package. This campaign was quite successful last season and helped us to extend the holiday period until the schools went back.”
She said she believed the beachfront was “more visitor friendly than in previous years”, but added that it was “still Durban’s best-kept secret. Throughout the year I have received incredibly positive feedback on the beaches and the area as a whole from many guests”.
Werner Geere, general manager of the Protea Hotel Edward, agreed that occupancy was looking very good for the festive period.
“Over Christmas we will be running at around 86 percent occupancy, which will extend into New Year. This represents a slight but encouraging increase of 3 to 4 percent over last year.
“Certain parts of the beachfront, particularly from North Beach to Ushaka, are looking really good in terms of overall maintenance, and I anticipate they will have a great vibe over Christmas.
“We have also noted an increase in patrols by police and private security companies and new CCTV cameras are being installed near our hotel, which will add to the security of holidaymakers. Overall, the picture is pretty rosy.”
Raymond Rampersad, head of Durban Solid Waste (DSW) said he would be working around the clock along with his team of 132 cleaners, 75 of whom were deployed on the Durban beaches, to ensure rubbish was cleared quickly.
“We will be working 24/7, including on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, to handle the greatly increased volumes of waste generated at this time of year,” he said.
“DSW is part of the special festive season management committee, comprising all city departments including the metro police, parks, roads and storm water, water and sanitation, health and safer cities.
“We meet weekly to ensure that we are always moving closer to our goal of making ours the city of choice for visitors.
“We do appeal to the public to play their part, too, in throw- ing waste in bins, not on the ground.”
Rampersad said his department’s job would be made easier by the zero tolerance policy the city had adopted towards carrying or consuming alcohol on the beaches.
Confiscated
“Anyone who brings alcohol anywhere near the beaches will have it confiscated this year,” he said.
Senior Superintendent Eugene Msomi, metro police spokesman, said: “Roadblocks have already started and are multidisciplinary, which means we check for everything. Drivers arrested for drunk driving will be detained and we are in the process of discouraging police station bail for these people.
“Parking in the beachfront area is always a cause for concern during the festive period. People park in the prohibited areas. Vehicles parked in prohibited areas will be charged and towed away.”