Face of uMhlanga set to change
With several major developments and over 1.2 million visitors last year, the town is ‘booming’.
“I can confidently say that within the next five years you will not recognise uMhlanga,” said chairman of Umhlanga Tourism, Peter Rose during the annual general meeting held on Tuesday.
Massive developments, such as the Oceans Umhlanga, The Pearls of Umhlanga and The Protea Hotel are set to transform the face of the country’s friendliest city.
What’s more, he said the deployment of fibre-optic cables throughout the coastal town would also revolutionise ‘our communication’.
“The area is booming,” he said.
Bernadine Galliver, of Grant Thorrnton, an accounting firm hired to analyse the City’s tourism echoed his sentiments, saying uMhlanga was performing better than the rest of the eThekwini Municipality.
She said uMhlanga saw over 1.2 million visitors which generated a gross domestic product of R20-billion in 2015.
Many locals have, however, rejected the developments saying uMhlanga had ‘lost its village appeal’.
In response Rose said, “Change is inevitable and uMhlanga does not exist within a bubble. People should focus on the positive spin off, which is that the developments will increase property values in the area,” he said.
As Rose is set to step down next year in July, after 12 years of service, the newest change will involve the organisation itself.
So, before the end of the meeting the committee also nominated a new chairman for Umhlanga Tourism, Norman Rielly.
The long-time uMhlanga resident said he planned to attract new sponsors as well as ‘new blood’ into the committee.
