New chair is passionate about uMhlanga

UMHLANGA Tourism welcomed a new chairperson to the body recently who plans on taking the area back to the level it once was.

Jeannie Sarno immigrated to South Africa when she was nine years old and then to the United States of America when she was 19. It was then that she realised how much she was in love with South Africa and returned after two years.

Also read: New director has next level plans

“I decided to return to Durban and settle and start my family. I have studied and worked in the tourism and marketing sector for a few years, but after having my twins and my last son only two years apart, I decided to leave the corporate world and start my own bed and breakfast,” she said.

She was appointed as chairperson of Umhlanga Tourism in April but decided to stay out of the media for a while as Sarno says she is more of a behind-the-scenes type of person.

Her position as chairperson of Umhlanga Tourism, however, means that she has to come to the fore to develop the area as a sustainable, quality, business-and-leisure tourist destination.

“The areas we cover are from uMngeni River in the south to the Tongaat River in the north, which would include Tongaat, Verulam, Mt Edgecombe and the King Shaka International Airport,” she said.

The role of the tourism committee as a whole is to meet once every month to discuss projects, ideas and problems in the areas that it covers and to place Umhlanga Tourism firmly on the tourism map.

“We need to make sure that the municipality can work with us to keep the areas clean and attractive and to have good roads and that our members can offer optimum standards to the tourists that book at establishments. We want those same tourists to spread the word to others and return again to our beautiful locations,” said Sarno.
So what does Sarono love about uMhlanga?

“uMhlanga has been my home for 22 years now. I love that I can have the ocean in front of me, the monkeys attempting to steal from my guests’ breakfast table daily, that three hours north, I can see the Big Five and yet three hours inland, I can go see the mountains,” she said.

Her plan as chairperson is to firstly secure a better location for the tourism offices as they are currently away from the public eye and tourists battle to locate them.

“Once this is achieved, then our other ideas and plans can materialise. We already have some events planned for 2023 and 2024, and those always attract a nice crowd, but we urge our members to keep us posted on what’s new and of any events they are organising and allow us to get the word out there,” she said.

“We have a membership drive going on as we are aware that we lost members during the Covid period. Sadly, some establishments have closed down, but we have a list of some who have continued to operate but not as members of Umhlanga Tourism. We urge these establishments to sign up as we are here to support them, and it is, after all, a legal requirement. Not being part of your local CTO [community tourism organisation] can lead to hefty fines,” said Sarno.

Speaking on what she would like to see change in uMhlanga, she said the committee had their work cut out for them, not only after Covid, the floods, the riots and now closed beaches, but there are other issues where the City’s intervention is needed.

“As the committee is made up of mostly volunteers like myself, we cannot do this alone. We all want to see a better and safer uMhlanga. We all have a part to play in society – if anyone has anything to share with us and would like us to share this with the community, please reach out to us,” said Sarno.

Contact Umhlanga Tourism on 031 5614257 or email : info@umhlangatourism.co.za. For more information visit www.umhlangatourism.co.za.

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