KwaZulu-Natal province is looking to use the chaos of the Easter weekend to make an estimated R1 billion profit in the tourism economy.
This profit is expected to be made by tourists from different parts of South Africa, estimated at 312 814 and 57 106 from other countries, who started pouring into the province at the beginning of the week, which will end on Sunday (April 5).
According to the regions, it is expected that 56% of tourists will visit Mkhanyakude, 53% will visit Lembe and Thukela, 49% will visit Gwini, 38% will visit Majuba, 39% will visit King Cetshwayo, 39% will visit Harry Gwala and 35% will visit Pietermaritzburg.
The Minister of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Conservation, Reverend Musa Zondi, said that KZN is fully prepared to welcome tourists who will develop in the province for various tourism reasons.
“What we are seeing now is a continuation of the good work we did during last year’s end of year holidays, and we hope that this weekend will continue to that effect, we can no longer abandon that practice because it will be the basis of the good things that will happen,” he said.
Zondi said that they support all the different churches that will be busy this weekend, and that they are the key to the big profits that will come into the tourism economy at this time.
The Deputy Chairperson of the Federation of Hospitality Association of South Africa (FEDHASA), Ms. Mandy Massey, said that they are looking after my accommodation to ensure that everything goes well this weekend.
“And the number of people who will use our accommodation shows a significant increase compared to last year. Part of it is because people see the importance of traveling in groups and helping them not to pay the large amount you pay if you travel alone to a certain place,” said Ms Massey.
The Chief Executive Officer of South Coast Tourism & Investment Enterprise, Dr. Vusimuzi Sibiya, said that he sees a lot of money coming in through accommodation as the number of people registering to stay in them is constantly increasing.
Zondi said that what makes them happy about this is that it shows that people love to visit KZN for different reasons, it is not that they will go up and down to go to services only – as there are a lot of tourists who will use this time to have fun with their families, friends, relatives and loved ones.