Hotels in Durban are experiencing a poor festive season, with bookings down by 10 – 15 %, despite special offers, reports the Sunday Tribune.
The newspaper quotes Gerhard Patzer, the local Chairman of FEDHASA and GM of the Hilton Hotel in Durban, as follows: “For the hotel trade, it’s definitely been the worst Christmas in five years. It’s clear that people are cagey about holiday spending – obviously trying to save money and paying off cars and debts, instead of going on holidays.”
“Everyone is trying to negotiate better deals, also booking for much shorter periods – two or three days, instead of a whole week” said Alan Vels, the past FEDHASA chairman.
The article also quotes Mike Sutcliffe, the manager of the Durban municipality, as saying:”…compared with Cape Town, Durban’s hotel trade had done “pretty well” under the circumstances”. This would seem to imply that Sutcliffe is saying that Cape Town is not doing well this festive season, which is far removed from reality, as Cape Town is buzzing.
Just two weeks ago the same newspaper proclaimed that the “year-end stampede to Durban and KwaZulu-Natal coast is well underway and it could be a record season”! The article speculated that 2,5 million visitors could be expected in the region, compared to the usual 2 million. It also stated that beachfront hotels were 90 % booked at that time already.
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