On sidelines of the ongoing Tourism Indaba 2013 in Durban, local tourism actors have said the year has kicked off brightly with increases in occupancies and business activity.Major research institutions have reported that while short-term global economy remain uncertain, consumers in prime tourism source markets both in the West and the East are more confident than before after the recession.
"Tourism in 2012 was very bad for everyone and in fact, it was the year that the recession hit home the hardest,"said Eddy Everaerdt, operations manager at Kalahari Skies. "This year, we are finally seeing something better and our business is about 60 to 70 percent better than last year. We actually have to expand and buy new vehicles because we cannot handle the volumes coming in with what we have." Kalahari Skies organises mobile tented safaris and lodge-to-lodge safaris in areas such as the Okavango Delta, Moremi Game Reserve, Chobe National Park and others. Duncan Enga, director of Xomae Adventures said occupancies had risen significantly from the rock-bottom levels seen in the wake of the global depression. Xomae Adventures is a campsite operator and manager with five permanent and semi-permanent sites in North West Botswana. "At one time, our occupancies were down to between 25 and 30 percent which was also because of increase in park fees," he said.
