Challenges and solutions in Newcastle’s tourism sector

Newcastle, the third-largest city in KwaZulu-Natal, occupies a strategic position between major urban hubs like Durban and Johannesburg. Despite boasting historical landmarks, nature reserves, and game lodges, Newcastle’s tourism sector faces significant challenges.

The Newcastle Municipality’s Communications Unit elucidated the factors hindering the growth of Newcastle’s tourism industry, echoing the broader struggles experienced by KwaZulu-Natal province amidst global economic turmoil leading up to 2022.

“A number of challenges hampered the economy of KZN, and these included the restrictions imposed by the National Government in order to circumvent the spread of COVID-19, the July 2021 unrest, and the floods that were experienced in 2022 that led to the damage of key infrastructure,” explained the Communications Unit.

These challenges resulted in unprecedented economic shocks, including job losses, inflation, and diminished household spending power. “Due to such, a lot of households did not have disposable income to spend on leisure, and this was particularly the case for the majority of low and middle-income households in Newcastle,” explained the Communications Unit.

Adding to this, the Newcastle Municipality pointed out that during the past recent festive period, contrary to predictions by Tourism KwaZulu-Natal, Newcastle experienced a decline in the number of tourists during December 2023, and this was seen through the low accommodation occupancy rates at around 60%.

“Furthermore, due to climate change, and the changes to the weather patterns, a majority of tourists are attracted by destinations that are along the coast due to a need to access the beach,” said the Communications Unit.
Additionally, the Communications Unit pointed out that the local tourism sector was prone to contraction during the festive season. This was largely attributed to migrant labour and people leaving the area.

These individuals who are attracted by the local economic and employment opportunities include the following:

• People from other provinces who are employed in Newcastle.
• Students from other areas of KZN who are advancing their tertiary education through Amajuba TVET College.
• Individuals hailing from other KZN towns or neighbouring provinces who are largely employed by government and financial institutions based in Newcastle. According to the Newcastle Municipality, these people make up the middle-income population group of Newcastle.

Speaking on the diversity of tourism available locally, the Municipality pointed out that Newcastle, in addition to entertainment related tourism, also boasts other forms of tourism. However, these currently are not fully fledged, and thus not making a significant contribution towards attracting visitors.

These are as follows:

• Wildlife Tourism (i.e. Hunting)
• Rural Tourism
• Heritage Tourism
• Township Tourism
• Nature and Outdoor Tourism
• Adventure Tourism

Considering this, the question now stands, how often does the Newcastle Municipality’s tourism department inspect local tourism spots to ensure they are well-kept and alluring to tourists?

“Local tourism spots are inspected on a daily basis by personnel appointed by the Municipality as caretakers of these facilities. Maintenance of the facilities thereof is done on an as and when required basis, depending on the reports from the rendered inspections,” stated the Newcastle Municipality’s Communications Unit.

Furthermore, the Municipality pointed out that some of the identified measures to remedy whatever defects that have been identified are premised on the availability of financial resources for their maintenance.

Reflecting on this, the Communications Unit elaborated that the Municipality faces several community based needs, and these range from basic service delivery needs to social and economic needs. “All these are funded from the same budget stream, and it is inadequate for satisfying all the community needs,” the unit pointed out.

When considering the above mentioned, one needs to wonder what marketing plans the Newcastle Municipality is sending out to attract tourists. And are these marketing plans proving to be effective?

According to the Communications Unit, the Municipality has a fully-fledged and fully-functional ‘Municipal Website’ which is used to communicate key information to the members of the public.

“Amongst other things, there is also information on the heritage tourism destinations that are under the custodianship of the Municipality which entails the Carnegie Art Gallery, and the Fort Amiel Museum. The Municipality has also advanced the development of a tourism calendar which gives indication of all the planned events from both the Municipality and the private sector.  The intention of the calendar is to market the events that are scheduled to take place in Newcastle so as to create some interest around the events,” explained the Communications Unit, which added that through it, the Newcastle Municipality has an active social media platform, where upcoming events and the tourism calendar are shared for the benefit of the interested individuals.

“The approach to marketing is effective as it has managed to give an indication of Newcastle’s tourism destinations, and also the planned events. However, the Municipality also acknowledges that more can and will be done to promote Newcastle as a tourism destination,” concluded the Communications Unit.

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