Decline in eThekwini tourism numbers will hurt businesses, warns ActionSA
Action SA in eThekwini says the sharp decline in tourism numbers during the festive season will have a severe impact the province’s business community.
The party says statistics released by the city show that there was a 22% drop when compared to the 2019 numbers, before the Covid pandemic hit the country.
That is a decrease of about 200 000 tourists.
Action SA's Alan Beesley says the impact of this plummet will be widely felt by residents and business in the city.
“Rather than the economy seeing a boom during the festive period and there being job security, jobs have unfortunately been lost or limited, thus negatively impacting households and informal traders reliant on this income.
“Furthermore, many small businesses rely on holidaymakers during the festive season to ensure that their businesses are sustainable for the quieter periods of the year. This will ultimately have a knock-on effect on their profitability and sustainability.”
He says the municipality needs to look internally and stop blaming external factors for the decline.
“While the odds were stacked against the city, as it saw a number of beach closures due to raw sewerage contaminating river bodies and oceans, resulting in tourists staying away from the city, one can only hope that the Mayor of eThekwini receives a wake-up call and complete’s all repairs on dilapidated sewerage infrastructure, before the current state of the city causes further damage to the city’s economy.”
