According to Umhlanga Tourism, the festive tourism season was shorter than in past years, with the first two weeks of December 2010 not as busy as in previous years, only really picking up after December 16 when most up-country firms closed for annual holidays.
Peter Rose of Umhlanga Tourism said the weather had played some part: “The weather before Christmas was not too bad. We only had to cancel one day of the Umhlanga Summer Carnival on the beach due to rain. The balance of the 12 days were all varied with some overcast days – but no rain – mixed with hot, sunny days. Also, the beaches and beach facilities were in near perfect condition thanks to the ongoing efforts of the Umhlanga beachfront UIP to keep everything working and in good shape.”
Well patronised
The local beaches were well patronised on good, sunny days with an estimated 10 000 to 12 000 people spread along the Umhlanga coastline between Durban View park and the Breakers Resort beach.
Some of the highlights of the season, according to Rose, were:
**A KZN Surfing event at the Umhlanga main beach on December 11 and 12 which attracted one of the largest entries ever in KZN. There were about 200 entries from around the country. “The organiser was justifiably happy and said that the attraction was that the event was being held in Umhlanga, and everyone wanted to be here,” said Rose. “This is great news.”
**A 16km trail run through dirt tracks, cane fields and bush which was capped at 150 entries. A very successful event across a variety of terrain which was challenging, but not too technical. A lot of interest generated in such events in future.
Umhlanga Summer Carnival Trail Run
**The Umhlanga Street Party on the evening of December 23 was held in perfect conditions and the whole of Chartwell Drive was packed to capacity, with an estimated 6000 + people in the road at the peak time about 9pm. “The event was a huge success and we struggled to finish it at midnight as no one wanted to go home,” said Rose.
On bad weather days, shopping centres like Gateway and La Lucia Mall experienced strong trade before Christmas, especially Gateway which was packed with shoppers doing last minute shopping when it was raining. According to some reports, the queues waiting to get into the undercover parking stretched back about 200m at times.
Rose said that Metro police did an outstanding job over the season in Umhlanga: “I’m happy to report that I have absolutely no gripes about their handling of traffic over the season.”
Commenting on hotel occupancy levels, he said, “From December 16 through to the end of the New Year’s weekend, the occupancy was at around 95% here in Umhlanga. Even the new hotels were doing great business over that period. The Tourism Office was also kept very busy trying to find last minute accommodation for visitors that arrived here without making a booking.” – Ridge Correspondent