High petrol price has tourism ups and downs
APRIL is rivalling December as the big holiday month this year, with school breaks, the Easter weekend and another long weekend scheduled for the end of the month.
And one 2014 trend that is becoming clear is that more Eastern Capers are opting to holiday closer to home due to the exorbitant price of petrol.
That in turn is benefiting provincial tourism as it means more residents will stay close to home and spend their holiday money in the region.
Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism spokesperson Doné Louw said major sporting and cultural events scheduled for the city over the next month would also bring in a healthy influx of visitors.
“These events include the 10th anniversary of Ironman South Africa, graduation at NMMU, which brings in a lot of out-of-town visitors, and the annual Splash Festival, to name but a few,” Louw said. Ironman visitors, especially international participants, spend a few days in PE ahead of the event.
“We also have the Grey High School Standard Bank Rugby Festival, which will bring in a lot of the school kids who are on holiday with their families from tomorrow to April 2,” he said.
“This, coupled with the high occupancies we are expecting for all the events, definitely mean we should experience a very positive tourism impact during these periods.”
The Willows Resort general manager Herman Nell says it is fully booked for the Easter weekend and all weekends until the first week of May.
Most of the guests are from the Bay, East London and areas around Jeffreys Bay.
Pearson Park Resort manager Leonie Kapp says the Sundays River camp and caravan park is almost full for Easter, but there are still openings for the school holidays which began yesterday. Most guests are from PE, Uitenhage and Despatch.
Cape St Francis Resort assistant manager Danni Shaw says the all-time high petrol price and “costs in general” are affecting travel.
“A lot of people can only afford one holiday a year not two and with us, December is very busy.”
But Shaw says the resort is 50% full over Easter and “very busy” over the last week in April during the Longboarding Championships.
Haga Haga Hotel owner Sandy Chemaly says although the beach hotel is fully booked for Easter and the weekend that follows it, the petrol price has had an effect on the travel habits of guests.
“Money’s really tight and we have mainly local guests. People rather go to a closer destination than spend so much on petrol,” Chemaly said.
“They still come from Bloemfontein which is about five hours away, but they definitely won’t come from Jo’burg for a week’s holiday.”
Wild Coast reservations manager Helen Ross said Wild Coast family hotels like Trennerys Hotel, Mazeppa Bay Hotel and Kob Inn Beach Resort were 95% full over Easter.
One emerging trend is that “a lot of our guests who would be booking international holidays are now looking at South African destinations because the exchange rate is so scary”.