MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Mossel Bay absolutely "cooked" over the festive season.
Because of the phenomenally good weather the beaches were jam-packed compared with last year and there were many excellently-organised and well-attended beach events which attracted attendees besides the usual beachgoers.
Considering the foot traffic and number of people in the water there were surprisingly few emergency incidents. Sadly there were two drownings: one at Glentana Beach and one at Buisplaas.
Although the town was significantly dryer than last year, there were no major fires in contrast to the fires which saw some Dana Bay residents evacuating their homes in December 2016.
Two vegetation fires, however, started up on Tuesday, 9 January - one in Great Brak and the other in Haelkraal.
Sun and fun
The popular coastal events which drew crowds included the provincial touch rugby tournament final on Diaz Beach, the finish of the Trans Agulhas rubber duck race at Santos, the annual NSRI beach run, the Cansa Sonslipstap at Hartenbos, the annual Coreen Fourie run/walk at the St Blaize Trail, the Kob Derby, the Summer Colour Run and the Caws 4 Paws doggie walk at the beach in Great Brak.
Also held in Great Brak and in the pine forest close by was the Grabadoo run/cycle race. These events took place successfully, with no negative incidents reported.
Tourism
There are divergent views from tourism experts on the number of visitors in town.
Noor Boolay, who oversees the flea markets in the greater Mossel Bay area, said he had found that because of the stringent water restrictions in Cape Town, more Capetonians than usual had come to Mossel Bay this year. Also, holidaymakers who usually chose to go to Cape Town, came to Mossel Bay, the Kwêla Town of the Year, instead.
Boolay holds the titles of Independent Entrepreneurs' Association vice-chairman, manager for the season and Good Shed flea market manager. Boolay described the visitors as window shoppers, not big spenders.
The Diaz Beach Hotel facilities and also the Diaz Water Park were constantly packed.
Diaz Beach Hotel general manager Sanitia Rheeder said this week: "We have been really busy, busier than last year. We had visitors from 1 December and have had 88% occupancy. Our Pirates bar on the beach has also been busy constantly. Even as late in the season as 9 January, our breakfast room was really full. We had many more university students than usual using our facilities this year. On New Year's Eve there were so many guests I thought to myself, 'This property is getting too small for all these people.'"
Peaceful
ATKV Hartenbos Resort manager Mornay Beukes said: "On the whole it was a more peaceful, tranquil holiday than previous years for us. The guests simply seemed more relaxed and congenial, which made for a really pleasant atmosphere."
Beukes said the traffic was a little less busy than in previous years. He said the number of bookings at his resort were the same as last year, but more people arrived after Christmas in Hartenbos this year, not before as in the previous year.
He said that considering the tough economy currently, Mossel Bay had done really well this season.
Commenting on the hugely successful concert in the Hartenbos Amphitheatre, attended by a record 12 000 people, Beukes said: "We ascribe this success to having the right line-up of artists and the fact that it was more a performance than simply a concert. The organisers are delighted and there is already mention of bringing the InAfrikaans concert series to Hartenbos next season."
Retail
There have been comments that although the beaches were packed, shops were quieter than in previous years. Although Checkers at Mosselbaai Mall in Heiderand ran out of stock of some items and consumers took to social media platforms to complain about this, it appears this was because of a problem with suppliers, not high consumer demand. Checkers' official response to the Advertiser was: "Supermarkets in the Mossel Bay area were affected by intermittent supplier deliveries for a handful of products which influenced stock levels for a day or two. The company is in a closed period and not in a position to provide sales information at this time. A trading update will be released on Tuesday, 16 January."
Hartenbos Pick n Pay franchise owner Gert Kruger reported he had had a "reasonable, not good" season in terms of sales. He could not complain, he said. The tight economy was affecting people and they were taking strain.
With regards to flea market trade, Boolay said some stallholders had reported good sales and others not. Melanie Sonnekus, who reports to Boolay, said stallholders at the Hartenbos flea market at the Carney building had reported making higher profits than last year.
Service delivery
Mossel Bay Tourism acting chief operations officer Attie Roos said: "Even well into December shops were not as busy as in the past." Roos commented that the many days of sunshine had determined it was a beach, rather than a shopping holiday in Mossel Bay this year.
"I have had several positive comments from our visitors and residents on the cleanliness of our streets and beaches." Municipal refuse collectors worked hard - sometimes as late as 23:00 - cleaning up.
Roos concluded: "All and all the season was a somewhat 'quiet' five weeks compared to last year."
Mossel Bay businessman Albert Wiffen, who owns a number of restaurants, said: "We had slightly more people and slightly more sales this year. If the weather is good people stay on the beach for the day instead of using restaurants."
Something that could indicate either an increase in consumption or an increase in visitors to Mossel Bay, was that there was an increase in household refuse collected in December. Municipal director of community services Elize Nel said 4 281 tons were collected compared to 3 947 tons in December 2016. Nel said: "Unfortunately the tonnages for recycling did not increase with the same ratio. In fact they declined a bit."
ARTICLE: LINDA SPARG, MOSSEL BAY ADVERTISER SUB EDITOR
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