Education and Tourism Correspondent

SOUTH African hotels are showing a slight improvement in occupancy levels reached in last year's season, which analysts say could be a sign of a booming domestic tourism market as SA's international tourist market slows down.

Figures released by Statistics SA (Stats SA) yesterday showed that room occupancies at 410 hotels countrywide were up 0,9% for September compared with the same month last year.

The largest increase was recorded in KwaZulu-Natal, understandably because Durban hosted the 10-day World Parks Congress, followed by Western Cape with 4% and Eastern Cape 3,6%. The remaining provinces had declines.

However, the increases are "baffling" for industry experts, especially in light of a Deloitte & Touche HotelBenchMark survey reporting a 2% drop in occupancies for September and foreign tourist arrival figures for August reflecting downward trends.

Also, Tourvest, SA's largest tourism group, recently said while issuing a profit warning that the sector was slowing down as the rand's strengthening meant foreign tourists could now buy less for their currency.

Deloitte & Touche partner Rob O'Hanlon said yesterday the Stats SA figures "clashed with fundamentals in the market".

"A nonrepetition of events like the World Summit on Sustainable Development has seen a general quietness in the second half. Our stats show occupancies declined."

Marko Hytonen of the Radisson Group in Cape Town backed O'Hanlon. "Occupancy levels for the five-star hotels in Western Cape had a drop of about 12,9% for September."

Christelle Grohmann, an analyst at Grant Thornton Kessel Feinstein, was also "surprised" at the figures, emphasising that they "should be read with caution".

"It's (the increases) no indication of an improvement. We have to wait for figures for the following months to map trends," she said.

"But, it could be an indication of the strength in the domestic tourist market, as figures from the market so far have focused on the international tourist numbers."

She said with interest rates coming down, domestic tourists were starting to spend more on their holidays.