Durban July brings tourism windfall

THE owners of Durban hotels, restaurants and other businesses are laughing all the way to the bank after the Durban July this past weekend.

About 55000 people attended the event, most of them from Gauteng.

The head of eThekwini munici- pality’s markets and tourism units, Philip Sithole, said yesterday visitors’ direct spending exceeded R125- million, and the east coast region of the Federated Hospitality Asso- ciation reported bumper sales.

But beachfront curio and trad- itional wear trader, Nomakhosi Mthiyane said she had stocked up for little reward. It had been cold and visitors “did not come for a swim .. and so we lost out”. – Chris Makhaye

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