Ugu spearheads KZN tourism revival

Margate-Beach-1.jpg

One of KwaZulu Natal (KZN)'s Margate Beach located at the South Coast. Photo supplied

by FUTHI MBHELE
DURBAN, (CAJ News) – THE Ugu District is reveling in its emergence as the region with the highest occupancy rate in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) during the recent festive season.

It came out tops provincially with an occupancy rate of 97 percent over the last week of 2022.

Ugu (Zulu for “coast”) District exceeded the provincial occupancy rate of 81 percent.

This is hailed as an indicator that tourism recovery in the South Coast is on track.

Tourism KZN has released the preliminary figures for the festive season.

Phelisa Mangcu, Chief Executive Officer of the South Coast Tourism and Investment Enterprise (SCTIE), attributed the high occupancy in Ugu to the fact that there, all beaches but one remained open for bathing.

Only Scottburgh Beach in Ray Nkonyeni Municipality was closed due to heavy rains.

“Our marketing drive ensured that our open beaches were promoted extensively, as well as providing an overview of our many unique tourism offerings,” Mangcu said.

The official is upbeat of the future.

“We feel that this bodes well for the upcoming year,” Mangcu commented.

The KZN Department of Economic Development Tourism and Environmental Affairsdisclosed that some 520 000 domestic tourists and 51 000 international tourists visited the province for the festive period, injecting R24 billion (US$1,408 billion) into the local economy.

The South Coast, also known as the Paradise of the Zulu Kingdom, is home to the highest number of Blue Flag beaches in the province.

The flag is one of the world’s most recognised awards for beaches, marinas and sustainable tourism boats.

– CAJ News

 

 

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