Low tourist numbers crime-related
CITY Manager Sipho Nzuza believes crime and the dilapidated buildings in Durban’s CBD and tourist hotspots could be the cause of the decline in the number of visitors to the city over the past three years.
The city’s Annual Report 2016/17, which was released this week, reflected this worrying Durban tourism trend.
Nzuza said the city needed to do an introspection and identify its weaknesses and improve those areas.
“I don’t think we should attempt to capitalise on the fact that Cape Town was going through a severe drought.
“We need to work on our attraction points such as warm beaches, weather and friendly people. We are not an alternative or a second choice to Cape Town,” Nzuza suggested.
He said Durban had unique features and attractions that local people enjoyed, but issues like spiralling crime, abandoned buildings and the cleanliness of the city needed attention.
The recent statistics released by Tourism South Africa showed that Durban had the highest hotel bed per night occupancy rate for domestic tourists, when compared to the country’s other major cities, but ranked lowest for international visitors.
However, the city continued to maintain its status as Africa’s leading conference venue, with the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre (ICC) and the Moses Mabhida Stadium being the popular choices.
“We are the top choice for local tourists, with our Gauteng, Free State and Limpopo people preferring to visit our city. Let’s capitalise on that by making sure our city is well maintained. We need investors; this can be achieved if the city remains attractive. Thereafter, we could work on how to attract international tourists,” he said.
During the city’s Executive Committee (Exco) meeting this week, Deputy City Manager of Economic Development and Planning, Phillip Sithole, said the city had outlined a turnaround strategy to promote the city and planned a series of events to boost tourism.
Sithole said it was important for the city to support events and they always did their homework before they staged major events.
He said another factor that affected Durban tourism was that the city was no longer the cheap holiday destination it once was. He supported his claim by saying that a hotel room on the beachfront during the festive season cost around R6000 a night.