Metro finally acts on dirty tourism hotspots

This was announced by economic development political head Mkhuseli Jack at the Donkin Reserve on Friday.

The plan will see beaches, heritage sites, monuments, the city’s promenade and Richmond Hill’s Stanley Street cleaned up.

Ward 5 councillor Terri Stander welcomed the plan, adding there was a need to marry cleaning and safety.

Economic development acting executive director Mpho Jonas said the programme was vital as the tourism industry had been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“During the harsh lockdown many of our properties for tourism have been left to vandalism,

“There was no maintenance and they became unclean. So we should start cleaning up these places.”

He hoped that by cleaning the sites more tourists would visit.

“It is all about perception. It is about what tourists say about a destination.

“Once the destination is clean, they can go home and tell a good story about the city and word will spread and more people will come,” Jonas said.

The clean-up campaign will be assisted by the department’s tourism marketing sub-directorate.

HeraldLIVE