PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - Despite Eskom plunging the country into darkness every so often and the economy buckling under various pressures, Plettenberg Bay's tourism industry seems somewhat immune to the belt-tightening that is happening around the country.
Plett Tourism conducts a quarterly exercise with tourism products to gather statistics and information about the trends in local tourism – including bed nights, length of stay, country of origin, and many more aspects.
Plett Tourism spokesperson Patty Butterworth revealed that the accommodation occupancy in Plett increased by 5% for the period January to September 2019 compared to the same period in 2018. "Although the SA economy has weakened considerably, the overall outlook for the tourism industry remains positive," she said.
According to Butterworth, the German online portal for industry-specific statistics, Satista, reported an overall increase in the number of tourists visiting SA between 2018 (16.44-million) and 2019 (16.65-million).
"Positive impacts on tourism for South Africa include the devaluation of the rand, the relaxation of visa regulations and the demand for activity-based itineraries and unique experiences. The latter is in favour of Garden Route towns, and in particular for Plettenberg Bay," Butterworth noted.
"In addition to the positive statistics in the local industry and forecast for 2020, Plett Tourism is excited to report an increase in its own vital marketing tools – the Plett Tourism digital media community."
She said they have seen an organic growth in their online community. This includes a Facebook reach of 130 000, Twitter impressions of 67 000, Instagram impressions of 112 000 and story impressions of 110 000 for 2019. "This is a total subscribed fan base of 26 000. In comparison, there was a total subscribed fan base of 23 000 in 2018.
Plettenberg Bay in all its splendour.
Butterworth said the Plett Tourism website experienced a 74% increase in traffic during the 2019 summer season compared to the same time for 2018. This includes a record number of visitors on 30 December 2019, with 9 000 unique visitors on the website.
"In comparison, the peak number of visitors in one day was 1 923 unique visitors in December 2018. Some of this can be attributed to the great countrywide interest in the positive decision to ban fireworks and seek an alternative for the New Year's Eve traditional celebration."
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