DURBAN - Ethekwini Municipality is humbled by more than 3 million tourists who descended on the city during the festive season.
Thanks to the “Summer Love Campaign” that was aimed at marketing Durban domestically and internationally. This is a clear demonstration that we are indeed a city very hard at work. Our early planning for the most gruelling period of the year paid off and we have managed to unceasingly meet the needs of our holidaymakers.
We are grateful for the R4.5billion that has been injected to our economy and close to 10000 job opportunities that were created. By raking in this revenue, we are confident that it will be invested in the city to the benefit of scores of our residents desperately in need of employment.
It is not only the “big boys” in the tourism industry that have benefited. Township tourism establishments also have a good story to tell. Many of our tourists have now made it the norm not to go back home without visiting eateries such as Max’s Lifestyle, Mashaplane’s and Eyadini Lounge. It is not only the bosses of these shisa nyamas that are laughing all the way to the bank.
Ordinary households that are lucky to be neighbouring these popular hang-outs are now permanently making a living by charging patrons for parking in their yards. During weekends and holidays they are guaranteed some income that later enables them to put food on the table.
It would be very amiss of me not to thank our 3.7million residents for their unwavering hospitality. Had they not been warm, visitors would have turned their backs against us. I implore residents to continue to shower our tourists with treatment fit for a king.
Crime in our areas is enemy number one for tourism, we should therefore, without fail, work with the police to nip it in the bud to allow tourism to boom.
Our law enforcement agencies have done exceptionally well. As a result, we had an incident-free festive season. It was thrilling when while walking at the beachfront, you saw a police officer on every corner. Our lifeguards should be commended as well for working tirelessly to drastically reduce the number of drownings off the beaches. Our staff responsible for collecting waste also deserve a pat on the back for keeping the beachfront spotless 24/7. This resulted in our tourists feeling safe and they have vowed to come and visit us again.
Members of the media have proven to be indispensable and without them our city would not have been a tourist Mecca. The media kept us on our toes and they reported positively where we fared well. They also played a crucial role in drawing our attention to numerous issues we may have not been aware of. I am therefore appealing to the media to continue to be our important stakeholder in our quest to aggressively grow our tourism market share in the country.
Tourism has become a money- spinner for the city and we are not going totake any chances or be complacent. Plans are on the cards to invest immensely in quite a number of tourists attractions. We are trying to move away from our city being only about bathing on beaches. We want to see every corner of the municipality being home to numerous tourist attractions.
We will invest in rural areas such as the Valley of a Thousand Hills. The latter has breath-taking scenery that we have not exploited enough to the benefit of people living there.
We are going to market this area to attract investment that will pave way for the construction of bed and breakfast units that will employ local people.
I am very pleased to report that a lot of work has been done to extend our promenade. By December 2019, construction will be complete. Our residents and visitors will soon be able to cycle and jog from uShaka Marine World to the iconic Moses Mabhida Stadium. The beachfront’s Rachel Finlayson Swimming Pool that underwent a facelift, is now open and residents are free to enjoy it.
With the influx of people from the rural areas to the city, the amount of solid waste in our streets is increasing dramatically. The growing number of informal traders has added to the mammoth task of keeping our city clean at all times. From now onwards, the city is going to deploy a team of six people per street to clean up for 10 hours, seven days a week. Our targets are Anton Lembede, Dr Pixley Ka Isaka Seme, Monty Naicker, Joe Slovo, Dorothy Nyembe, Dr Yusuf Dadoo, Joseph Nduli and Magaret Mcadi streets. This is part of our rejuvenation of the inner city that we want to see attracting much-needed investment.
We are also planning to embark on educational campaigns to educate our people that we are all responsible for ensuring our city is kept clean by disposing of litter in garbage bins. We urge all residents to work with us in our endeavour to grow our city.
Plans are afoot to ensure that our city does not disappoint during the upcoming Easter holidays. It is a must that every South African in their lifetime should at least once, visit Durban.