Tourism to the KwaZulu Natal North Coast has showed steady growth, despite South Africa’s weak economy.
Tourism to the region has increased by 9% over the past three years, contributing in excess of R3 billion (€201 million) to the gross domestic product of iLembe District Municipality for the period of March 2017 to February 2018, according to Grant Thornton.
CEO of Enterprise iLembe, Nathi Nkomzwayo, comments: “This is a clear indication of the importance of tourism to the prosperity of the region, especially during a period when economic growth in the country has been particularly subdued.”
Enterprise iLembe, the economic development agency for the iLembe municipality commissioned Grant Thornton to conduct research into the impact of tourism on the North Coast, as there was limited tourism data specifically available for the region.
“The study has enabled us to determine the behaviour of tourists when they visit the district, including accommodation preferences, and activity and spending patterns. It is not always possible to get accurate data for municipalities on these subjects from national surveys,” says Nkomzwayo.
According to the study, the North Coast attracted more than 800 000 visitors between March 2017 and February 2018. Of these, domestic overnight tourists accounted for 62,8% of total visitors, while foreign overnight tourists comprised 6,5% of total visitors. Approximately 30,6% were day visitors.
These visitors spent R1.95 billion (€131 million) in the municipal region between March 2017 and February 2018.
Associate Director of Grant Thornton, Bernadine Galliver, says: “It is especially encouraging that tourism has been able to create or sustain approximately 6 595 employment opportunities in iLembe. Given South Africa’s high unemployment number, this trend is exciting, as it highlights the real potential that tourism has in an economy.”
Approximately 8% of these opportunities were in highly skilled occupations, while 36% were in skilled occupations. Unskilled and informal occupations comprised 22% and 34% of the opportunities respectively.
“In most of the feedback from tourists it is evident that the North Coast is still very much treasured as a leisure destination, with 79% of domestic overnight visitors and 43% of foreign overnight visitors choosing the area for leisure,” comments Galliver.
According to Nkomzwayo, the agency has used this reputation (leisure destination) of the North Coast, including towns such as Ballito, Salt Rock and KwaDukuza, to promote tourism.
“We are well aware that visitors value our area’s beautiful beaches and see the North Coast primarily as a leisure destination. We have leveraged off this and aim to encourage people who come here for leisure purposes to also visit some of the region’s other, perhaps lesser-known, attractions.”
The Grant Thornton report said 95% of visitors rated iLembe as an excellent or good tourism destination, while over 99% of the visitors described it as a value-for-money destination.
“This is especially positive feedback for us in terms of retaining and attracting local visitors. With the economy still not performing optimally, many local tourists opt for good-value destinations and we should be able to leverage more off this,” says Nkomzwayo.
The North Coast area stretches from Zimbali to KwaDukuza in the south and from Amatikulu to Mandeni in the north, extending inland to Ndwedwe and Maphumulo.
