“It has been a challenging two years but looking ahead we expect the market to recover to pre-pandemic levels in late 2023, and for a second year in a row we will be doubling our seat capacity.”
The introduction of Lift’s new route has been welcomed by tourism authorities and the KwaZulu-Natal government, saying it will boost domestic tourism to the province.
KwaZulu-Natal economic development, tourism and environmental affairs MEC Siboniso Duma said the recent launch of tourism figures show the province is making a “resounding recovery”.
Recently released figures by SA Tourism revealed in the first six months of 2022 KwaZulu-Natal received more than 2.2-million domestic trips.
“This was just shy of the 2.6-million trips for 2021 and indicates the province is on track to beat last year’s number of visitors by a landslide.
“Another indicator of recovery is hotel occupancy. In KwaZulu-Natal the trend is upward and equal to that of 2019. In July hotels, on average were 68% full on average. That is 4% higher than July 2019 before Covid-19 hit SA,” said Duma.
He attributed the positive trend to a “tactical and strategic provincial tourism recovery plan”.
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Travellers given more choice with Lift’s new Joburg to Durban route
Image: Siphiwe Sibeko
Domestic airline Lift is set to fly the popular Johannesburg to Durban route from next month, with three flights a day scheduled between the City of Gold and the east coast.
The airline also has the Cape Town to Durban route on the cards for November.
Bookings for the Johannesburg to Durban route are live and flights start on October 26.
Lift said the route expansion is its first step to connect the popular “Golden Triangle” between Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. The next step will be connecting Cape Town and Durban.
“As well as the new route, Lift will increase its frequency between Johannesburg and Cape Town to up to 14 flights per day, adding seats to the popular route.
“We’re also adding four aircraft to our fleet, which has been done using flexible capacity and can easily be increased or decreased based on demand. This growth in our fleet and new routes will create more than 100 new jobs before the end of the year,” said Lift CEO and co-founder Jonathan Ayache.
eThekwini ‘on track for a bumper festive season’ in spite of challenges
“It has been a challenging two years but looking ahead we expect the market to recover to pre-pandemic levels in late 2023, and for a second year in a row we will be doubling our seat capacity.”
The introduction of Lift’s new route has been welcomed by tourism authorities and the KwaZulu-Natal government, saying it will boost domestic tourism to the province.
KwaZulu-Natal economic development, tourism and environmental affairs MEC Siboniso Duma said the recent launch of tourism figures show the province is making a “resounding recovery”.
Recently released figures by SA Tourism revealed in the first six months of 2022 KwaZulu-Natal received more than 2.2-million domestic trips.
“This was just shy of the 2.6-million trips for 2021 and indicates the province is on track to beat last year’s number of visitors by a landslide.
“Another indicator of recovery is hotel occupancy. In KwaZulu-Natal the trend is upward and equal to that of 2019. In July hotels, on average were 68% full on average. That is 4% higher than July 2019 before Covid-19 hit SA,” said Duma.
He attributed the positive trend to a “tactical and strategic provincial tourism recovery plan”.
TimesLIVE
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
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