Elephants drinking water at the Kruger National Park. l UNSPLASH
The bush experience and seeing The Big 5 in Kruger won the hearts of holiday-makers as opposed to the traditional beach holiday on Durban’s coast during the December 2022 festive period.
Well, that’s according to newly-released data from Location Bank, a digital location management business, and various fuel stations situated along the N3 highway to Durban. They tasked themselves in finding out why visitor numbers to Durban, took a dip.
According to Location Bank, there was a 15% decrease in clicks for navigation and views or impressions on Google listings for major petrol stations along the route between December 16, 2022 and January 8, 2023, when compared to the data over the same time range from the previous year.
“Due to the alarming amount of e.Coli present in the coastal waters of eThekwini, many holidaymakers took a ‘sho’t left’ and avoided the province altogether…
“Flood damage, effects of Covid-19 and beach closures were deemed the root of the disparaging tourism figures,” said the report from Location Bank.
So, if holidaymakers from Gauteng didn’t holiday in Durban, where could they have gone?
According to Location Bank’s Client Success executive, Cameron de La Rey, the Kruger National Park was ssen as a viable possibility.
“Further analysis into our investigation revealed that travellers adapted their plans, with an 18% increase in clicks for navigation and a 16% increase in views for petrol stations along the N4 highway to Kruger National Park, over the same December period in 2022,” said De la Rey.
De la Rey said that with a similar travel distance to Durban, multiple points of financial entry and family focused offerings, the bush seemed to be the next best option for holidaymakers from Gauteng.
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