Never mind the drought, we're still open for business. That's what KwaZulu-Natal tourism associations want you to know ahead of the expected Christmas holiday boom.They are promising that there will be enough water for visitors to the province.The assurances have been made despite the severe water shortages - particularly north of Durban, stretching from the fast-growing holiday hotspot of Ballito - that have affected KZN for most of the year.The Hazelmere Dam, which supplies Ballito and large parts of northern Durban, is at just over 25% of its capacity - less than 120 days' supply for the Ilembe municipal district.Cheryl Peters, of Enterprise Ilembe, said tourist bookings are up on those of previous years."We are fully booked for the peak holiday period. We haven't had any cancellations and we are still getting lots of requests for accommodation," she said.It is unlikely the annual Matric Rage festival will be affected. Organisers said it did not appear that party-goers were staying away because of the drought. The event, from November 26 to December 5, is expected to draw about 25 000 people."We are working closely with local stakeholders and will take our cue on water usage and restrictions from them. Our festival has a very low demand on water as very few of our activities require it."We do, however, encourage all Rage festival-goers to use water responsibly," said Greg Walsh, CEO of G&G, the events company that puts the festival together.Elias Bhengu, manager of the water services department at the Ilembe district municipality, said there would be enough water for Rage and for the rest of the festive season."Last year we were under the same sort of pressure but we managed. There should be enough water because we are working on plans to augment the [water supply] systems and many of these plans are already starting to bear fruit," said Bhengu.Further up the north coast, at the World Heritage-listed iSimangaliso Wetland Park, December holiday bookings are unaffected, according to CEO Andrew Zaloumis - this despite the park being severely affected."iSimangaliso visitor numbers have not been unduly affected by the drought. All park accommodation has auxiliary water systems and we are open for business," he said.Nikki Tilley, marketing manager for South Coast Tourism, said the popular holiday towns of Margate, Port Shepstone, Scottburgh and Port Edward would have plenty of water for holiday-makers."We have had people phoning with concerns [about water] but we are better off than many other regions."We're not stressed. We are encouraging people to be water-wise, but we're not worried about it. We've got well in excess of three months' supply of water. We're doing okay," said Tilley.The drought has not affected Durban either, said Charles Preece, regional operations manager for the Federated Hospitality Association of SA."Occupancy rates are generally about the same as last year but there is no doubt that this drought is a serious issue," said Preece...