Reuters.
A woman walks past the International Convention Centre where the 5th BRICS Summit will be held, in Durban March 25, 2013.
Durban is cashing in on a huge tourism bonanza with the high-profile Brics summit that starts today sandwiched between two long weekends.
About 5 000 delegates have descended on the city for the summit of the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) economic bloc of emerging nations.
All heads of state of the five member countries, including China’s newly elected president Xi Jinping, Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be in Durban with President Jacob Zuma for the two-day summit. The leaders have been joined by large government and businessdelegations from their respective countries. A contingent of around 1 000 media people have booked out major hotels in the city and uMhlanga.
A ring of steel has been thrown around the ICC with the event treated as a “high alert” security operation. Part of Walnut Road between the ICC and the Exhibition Centre will be closed for the duration of the event.
Minister of Police, Nathi Mthethwa, said “uncompromising security measures” were in place, including securing routes, venues, the city and hotels in joint operations involving the SA Police, Metro Police and intelligence agencies.
“In total we shall have 3 000 law enforcement officers present,” he said.
eThekwini deputy city manger and head of Durban Tourism, Philip Sithole, said all the logistics and support from the city’s side were in place. He said a music festival showcasing music from all the Bric nations held at the beachfront on Sunday had attracted 4 000 people, despite bad weather.
“From an events awareness and marketing perspective, we have done a lot of work to let Durbanites know what this is about,” he said.
“The Brics summit projects the city internationally, particularly to fellow Brics nations. The economic impact of hosting the event will be significant. It comes just ahead of the Easter holiday weekend, and together we expect an economic impact of over R300 million,” he said.
Mike Jackson, the regional chairman of the Federated Hospitality Association of SA, said most Durban hotels were either fully booked or near full occupancy. He said the summit being “smack bang” between two long weekends was a massive boon for the tourism industry. – The Mercury
