Where’s the welcome along the Dolphin Coast?
What are the first impressions visitors get when they arrive at North Coast towns for their holidays?
The Dolphin Coast is one of South Africa’s premier holiday spots, with eyes on luring ever larger numbers of foreign visitors as well.
What then are the first impressions visitors get when they arrive at North Coast towns for their holidays?
The Courier took a tour from Umdloti all the way up to Zinkwazi, visiting each town and village to have a look at the face that they present to the world. They are rated from 1 to 10 based on how welcoming they appear.
Environmental affairs and tourism deputy chief landscape architect Dr Frans Jordaan has written numerous reports on the value of a town’s ‘gateway sign’, saying that it should be one of the most important elements in each and every town or city’s gateway zone.
“Urban gateways need to be attractive, landscaped areas with appealing signs welcoming visitors. It plays a crucial role by creating first impressions and by attracting or repelling the potential visitor psychologically. It may be seen as an important mechanism to convince the traveller to spend some time and money at that specific locality.”
He said that untidy entrances, with masses of dilapidated signs, created impressions of bedraggled towns and depressing places with nothing worthwhile to offer the visitor.
Ilembe Chamber CEO Cobus Oelofse said that as a chamber they have not had beautification, including town entrances and signboards, on their list of burning priorities, “but as a resident and passionate community member it should be. It is an issue that our tourism standing committee will look into, especially in cooperation with other community organisations.”
“Town entrances are such an underestimated ingredient of great tourist destinations. And I am not only referring to signboards or nameboards but a real sense of arrival, real applaudable town entrances that immediately elevates the tourist’s experience.”
Umdloti 6/10
Umdloti puts on a warm face for first time visitors but you might miss it if you do not pay close attention. There is a well maintained lawn and a charming sign with a dolphin sculpture to give holidaymakers that Dolphin Coast feeling. The bushes are obscuring the wording at the bottom of the sign and it would be greatly enhanced by a rock and aloe garden to make it more eye-catching.
La Mercy 2/10
While there’s not much wrong with the first look as one drives into La Mercy, there is not a lot right either. The entrance to La Mercy is plain boring with nothing to welcome you but a standard road sign.
Tongaat 7/10
Tongaat has beautiful, well manicured and clean stretches of lawn and gardens on both sides of the Watson highway (M43) as one enters. Freshly painted white wood fences welcome you into the town and broad green trees line both sides of the road. Maybe it’s the Tongaat Hulett connection but whatever it is – congratulations on a lovely first impression. The lovely gardens are sadly let down by the obscure old sign that actually announces Tongaat (it is definitely time for an upgrade).
Westbrook 4/10
Westbrook’s entrance is clean and tidy – but completely boring. The green and white sign next to the guard hut is clearly visible but could definitely use a garden. Come on Westbrook, more effort is required!
Ballito 3/10
Ballito’s entrance off the N2 highway is about as uninspiring as it could get – looking more like an interchange somewhere in Gauteng than anything else. On-and-off ramps, six lanes of rushing traffic and then a MacDonald’s seem like a poor welcome for one of the premier holiday towns in the country.
Despite this, the planted circles and flower beds between the lanes are definitely a move in the right direction. Then there’s the original welcome sign – now almost completely obscured from the road by a street hair salon that has sprung up around the ‘temporary’ taxi rank. Ballito has grown considerably since this sign was erected and it is now absurd to be ‘welcomed’ once you have already been in town for a few minutes.
Salt Rock 3/10
Like Ballito, Salt Rock has grown considerably since the first welcome sign was built, so you will have travelled quiet far down Main Road before you see it (if you see it). Then there’s the standard KwaDukuza municipality sign oddly located further down the road at the Salt Rock main beach. Surely it should be welcoming visitors to the beach then?
But the town does get some points thanks to Sasol garage that has a lovely landscaped garden on the right as you come off the N2 and a festive Christmas light display that adds some sparkle for the holidays.
Foxhill 6/10
While Foxhill is a suburb of Salt Rock and not a town, it still gets a nod for one of the best welcome signs on the Dolphin Coast. The beautiful garden and sign built into the hillside are a great feature that adds to the welcoming effect for Salt Rock as a whole. Sadly there are far too many advertising boards erected all around the welcome sign that seriously detract from the overall impression.
Tinley Manor Beach 4/10
The best thing about the entrance to Tinley Manor is the beautiful sea view. That aside, the rest is pretty dull. They do get some points for a new KwaDukuza municipal sign clearly announcing the town, although one could argue that the money would have been better spent on upgrading the old but stately welcome sign with a fresh lick of paint and a landscaped garden, and voila it could be beautiful!
KwaDukuza 1/10
The seat of our district and local municipality is, unfortunately, the least attractive town on the list. There is no sign welcoming you to KwaDukuza (or even the old Stanger, for that matter) when you approach off the N2. Driving into the town means driving right past the sewage treatment facility that squats next to the entrance and visitors can ‘enjoy’ wafts of the odour that it emits.
Blythedale 5/10
The entrance to Blythedale is, again, one of those entrances with not much wrong and not much right. A KwaDukuza municipality sign on the left welcomes you to Blythedale and warns you to drive safe and not litter. Some effort has been made on the other side of the road with a some striking tree aloes and a poorly maintained rock garden in front of a busy sign. The main problem here is that there are so many sponsor advertisements that the ‘welcome’ is quite lost.
Zinkwazi 4/10
Lastly, the entrance to Zinkwazi – which was rather disappointing for a place with one of the most beautiful beaches on the coast. Zinkwazi welcomes visitors with a really lovely sign with a fun and creative map of the town but that’s where it ends. This entrance is crying out for some landscaping!
Do you want to receive news alerts via WhatsApp? Send us a WhatsApp message (not a sms) with your name and surname to 061 718 4438.
Please read our WhatsApp broadcast list disclaimer.
Join us on BBM at 59015786
Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
