HOW ARE FESTIVALS ENHANCING ECONOMY?

MBABANE – A time to reboot!

The entertainment industry has shown tremendous growth from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and last year’s unrest had on the economy of the country. This is seen by bigger and better events which have proved to be great boosters in the economy of the country. Some of the big festivals that have taken place so far are; MTN Bushfire, and Swazi Rally, which saw the largest number of international tourists swarm into the country to attend these events. The past couple of months since the pandemic the death toll dropped and there was an ease from the riots, which had affected the economy so much that a lot of individuals lost their jobs and businesses suffered great loss.

Protection

Festivals help protect local cultural traditions, develop tourism and promote the economic, social and cultural developments of any country, and this has been seen even in the kingdom. Specifically, the success of a festival helps attract large crowds, thus strengthening the attractiveness of cities, communities or tourism destinations. They help the economy by attracting visitors, which stimulates the growth of tourism and other businesses alike. New comer to the festivals space, Eswatini Farmers Market, also boosted the economy; it attracted a huge crowd, which in return stimulated cash injection into the Malkerns area, where it was held.  It was held at the Malkerns Country Club.

The Tourism Authority in a form of a press statement on September 3 this year said: “Umhlanga weekend reveals positive developments in Eswatini Tourism”. Each year, the world descends eagerly to the Kingdom of Eswatini to immerse in the culture of emaSwati at the Umhlanga (Reed Dance) Ceremony. This year was certainly no different. With the revival of global tourism encouraged by the cautious easing of travel restrictions around the world, Eswatini welcomed thousands of visitors from the region and across the globe for the pulsating Umhlanga Ceremony.

Visitors

Visitors couldn’t have chosen a more appropriate time to experience the country as this was the busiest weekend in the year outside of the MTN Bushfire festival. The weekend offered a wholesome blend of events, namely the Swazi Rally at Rider’s Ranch at Sidvokodvo, Africa Tourism Board’s African Legends Soccer Tournament and African Carnival at the Mavuso Sports Centre and the Imvelo MTB Classic at Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary, among others. These events are known and loved by people from different parts of the world, hence their ability to stimulate tourism in the country. Due to the various activities that took place in the country and the keen interest in attending the recent reed dance, which was demonstrated by the thousands of tourists who came into the country over the four-day period, accommodation establishments recording impressive bookings.

The occupancy rate was the highest for game/ nature reserves with stood at 70.2 per cent, followed by guest houses at 63.6 per cent and lastly hotels recorded 59.7 per cent. The average occupancy rate per day over the four-day Umhlanga weekend was 65.8 per cent. This figure is higher than the average occupancy rate recorded for the entire month of September 2021 which recorded 32.6 per cent. A total of 9 457 international visitors were recorded into Eswatini during the Umhlanga weekend between 2 to 5 September, this year. Arrivals from the region constituted a larger proportion of regional inbound arrivals, with South Africa and Mozambique accounting for over 66.8 per cent and 8.8 per cent respectively. Eswatini attracted within four days 45 per cent of the total arrivals achieved in 30 days in September 2021.

Developments

When reached for comment Chief Executive Officer of the Eswatini Tourism Authority, Linda Nxumalo, affirmed that these figures indicated encouraging developments in the country’s tourism recovery. Nxumalo further attributed the arrival of tourists from emerging African markets such as Nigeria and Malawi to Africa Tourism Board’s Africa Soccer Legends Tournament which pulled attendees from different corners of the continent. “We are pleased to see South Africa and Mozambique maintain their positions as Eswatini’s highest market source. “We attribute this to the recent familiarisation tour under the Triland Agreement between the Eswatini Tourism Authority, Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency and Mozambique Tourism Board (INATUR). This initiative seeks to promote the region as a tourist, trade and investment destination. We commend the tireless efforts made by tour operators who took part in the Triland Agreement creating and selling packages to Eswatini to regional and international tourists,” said Nxumalo.

Nxumalo went on to forecast on the increase in arrivals from emerging markets, citing the figures recorded over the Umhlanga weekend. “We anticipate an increase in tourists from Zimbabwe following the securing of the country as one of the primary routes for the country’s emerging airline, Eswatini Air. We also note that the arrivals from Europe were higher over the four-day period at 1 251 compared to the whole month of September last year where the country received 521 tourists from the continent,” said Nxumalo.

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