AS thousands of people prepare to bid farewell to the province of KwaZulu-Natal, Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs MEC Sihle Zikalala has extended a word of gratitude to all holiday makers who visited the province over the festive season.

“KwaZulu-Natal is by far the most popular domestic leisure tourist destination for South Africans and this past month was no different. We have no doubt that we have been able to surpass our target of attracting no less than 700 000 domestic visitors and 137 000 international arrivals which will see nearly R2 billion injected into the economy of KwaZulu-Natal,” said Zikalala.

While the province is yet to take stock of the overall visitor numbers for the festive period, preliminary indications are that there were very healthy hotel occupancy rates, especially for the month of December.

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“Our pristine beaches along the province’s 600 kilometre coastline, towns and rural tourism establishments were full of tourists and locals for the entire duration of the festive season. People of all races enjoyed themselves in harmony,” said the MEC.

Zikalala thanked the people of KwaZulu-Natal for receiving the guests with open arms and ensuring that they enjoyed the warm hospitality the province is renowned for.

“We are happy that there were no major incidents that spoilt what was, undoubtedly, once again a memorable experience for our visitors. All entertainment activities which took place in different parts of the province were also a resounding success,” said Zikalala, who further acknowledged that favourable weather remains one of the positive considerations for holiday makers.

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The province’s tourism arm will in the next few weeks finalise the total number of visitors, as well as the injection into the local economy that resulted from their stay.

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