Nude beach for KZN south coast?

[Danee]

Durban - Naturists in the province have revealed that they are setting their sights on their own nudist beach along KwaZulu-Natal’s South Coast.

Yesterday John Skene, a naturist from the South Coast, said he was requested by the Gauteng Naturist Association to establish an association in the province. Skene said there were a number of naturist associations in the country, but none was officially recognised.
Once the association is formed, the next step will be to approach authorities to make available a spot on one of the South Coast beaches for naturists.

“We understand that if we are to have a beach for naturists, the laws governing public indecency will have to be altered a bit. This has huge implications for the tourism industry. In Europe, naturism is popular. This means our tourist figures could increase if we had this kind of a beach,” said Skene.

On Saturday, he will be convening a meeting at the Hooting Owl in Marina Beach, Margate, in the Hibiscus Coast local municipality, where he will be canvassing for membership.

Asked if he thought the community would allow people walking in the nude on the beaches, Skene said naturist beaches were fairly isolated and that the general public did not frequent them as there are signs alerting the people to the fact that it’s a beach for the nude.
“This is about the freedom to walk around naked without fear of being sexually violated. I really don’t know how the turn-out of the meeting will be, but I’m expecting at least more than 20 people to attend,” said Skene.

He said when naturists gather, they do so in large groups, hence they have no security concerns when they meet.

A nudist website that was last updated in February 2006 listed Umhlanga beach as an unofficial nudist beach.
The website claims: “Despite its unofficial status as a nudist beach, the lagoon end of the beach is often used by naturists,” and gave directions. Peter Rose, chairperson of Umhlanga Tourism, said it was nonsense that nudism could have huge implications for tourism. Asked if there was a nudist beach in the area, Rose said he could not comment about the past.
He said Umhlanga has family beaches only.

“If it’s [nudism] popular in Europe, then why would someone travel thousands of kilometres at huge costs just to come and walk in the nude at a secluded beach while the person could have travelled a short distance to the nearest beach in their country?


“If it would have any spin-offs for tourism, we would have had one already,” said Rose.

Khanyiso Seysi, municipal spokesperson for the Hibiscus Coast, requested an e-mail with questions and said the municipality can only comment today.

http://www.news24.com/Travel/South-Africa/Naturists-looking-for-KZN-south-coast-spot-20140213

[nitram]

“If it’s [nudism] popular in Europe, then why would someone travel thousands of kilometres at huge costs just to come and walk in the nude at a secluded beach while the person could have travelled a short distance to the nearest beach in their country?


“If it would have any spin-offs for tourism, we would have had one already,” said Rose.

This person forgets that there is also intra-country touristic potential.


I hope South African naturists will make this point clear in their sales talk.

[Ber201]

holding thumbs apparently the decision is going to be made this Tuesday

[chrisw91]

Council to decide on KZN nudist beach

Durban - South Coast residents will find out on Tuesday if they are to have a nudist beach on their doorstep.

Those fretting over the possibility will see their nightmares come true. Those in favour, on the other hand, are holding thumbs that the application will be approved by the Hibiscus Coast municipality council so the area can benefit from a piece of the almost R5-billion global naturist tourism industry – and so they can frequent it sans clothing, of course.

The municipality has been looking into the application by the KZN Naturist Association (KZNNA) for a 500m stretch of Mpenjati Beach, near Trafalgar, to be declared clothing-optional, and after months of public comment and debates, will decide on the issue on Tuesday.

Public debates have shown the issue to be contentious, with many residents saying that having such a beach would increase incidents of crime and go against their moral and cultural beliefs.

South African naturists in support of the nudist-friendly beach say the South Coast area would benefit from the tens of thousands of naturists in European countries such as Germany, France and Spain.

Statistics South Africa said the biggest numbers of international tourists to South Africa each year were from the UK (49 168 visitors), Germany (35 190 visitors), and the US (24 111). France and Netherlands were in fifth and sixth spots, with 14 425 and 12 652 annual visitors to the country respectively.

Kurt Fisher, the president of the German Federation of Nudist Clubs, which has 40 000 members, said they would be attracted to South Africa if the nudist beach was approved.

He said there was always demand for such establishments for naturist tourism.

Earlier this year, a survey by travel industry marketing firm MMGY Global found that 18 percent of respondents said proximity to a clothing-optional beach was a desirable attribute for a holiday destination.

This was a two-percent increase from 2012.

Details on the impact of Sandy Bay beach on the economy in Cape Town could not be found, as both the City of Cape Town and Cape Town Tourism said they did not track such information.

But globally, the American Association for Nude Recreation estimates that nude travel is a $440-million (R4.94bn) industry, up from $300m in 2001.

In support of the KZNNA’s application, Athol Lutge, the chairman of the South African National Naturist Association – which is a member of the International Naturist Federation – said the Pacific Spirit Regional Park in Vancouver, Canada, had more than 500 000 annual naturist visitors with an annual economic impact of more than $60m.

In another example, he said, Haulover Beach Park in Miami, Florida, had more than 1 million annual naturist visitors. “Haulover Beach’s naturist visitors’ growth was 9.1 percent the first year, 43.9 percent the second year, and 82.1 percent the third year, and has grown every year since then.

“The parking fees received in the Haulover naturist beach area increased 126 percent, whereas Crandon, a nearby non-naturist area, has growth of only six percent over a three-year period.”

Lutge said that there had been only positive comments from the Florida state officials.

However, arguments citing crime concerns deserve consideration – in 2005, a 27-year-old German tourist was raped by a naked man while she was hiking on a trail above Sandy Bay.

In 2003, an American tourist was assaulted in a “gay bashing” incident at the beach.

http://www.iol.co.za/travel/travel-news/council-to-decide-on-kzn-nudist-beach-1.1757681

[chrisw91]

Naturists left hanging over beach issue

Durban - South African naturists were left disappointed on Tuesday after the Hibiscus Coast Municipality failed to make a decision on an application for the establishment of a nudist-friendly beach on the South Coast.

Instead, councillors took the opportunity to ask questions of the SA National Naturist Association (Sanna) and seek clarity on the naturist movement. They will now discuss the matter with their political parties.

Feedback from the Wildlife Environmental Society of South Africa and Ezemvelo Wildife – as the portion of beach in question falls within the Mpenjati Nature Reserve area – is also still outstanding.

The association’s president, Athol Lutge, who, along with Amanda Foster – also of the association – found himself answering a barrage of questions from councillors unfamiliar with nudist-friendly beaches or the code of conduct surrounding them.

Questions included:

l Will there be separate beaches for male and female nudists?

l How do naturists plan to ensure their safety at the beach, and at whose cost?

l Was the association’s application “married” to Mpenjati Beach, or could another beach be found?

l Will the beach still be open to the public?

l How do councillors present the idea of “naked people on a beach” to their African constituents unfamiliar with the naturist concept?

l How do they ensure that the beach does not turn into an area used for sexual activity?

Sex

Lutge explained that such beaches were open to the public and would not be separated into gender-specific areas.

“We are open to all races and genders, grandparents and grandchildren, gay and straight people. Everyone is welcome. Naturism is not a sexual thing. It’s like when you shower in your home, you are used to showering without clothes. So to shower with clothes does not feel normal. That is what it is like for us.

“It has nothing to do with sex.” He said naturists respected each other. However, security was an issue.

“But we, as naturists, like to control it. We don’t like swearing or sexual interference. And if someone does something we do not agree with, then we will politely ask them to leave.”

The association was, however, not too concerned about which beach it was given to use, but needed somewhere private, away from homes.

“We can go to any beach the municipality allows us,” Lutge said, adding that although members of the public would not be prohibited from using the beach, there would be signs indicating they were entering a nudist-friendly area.

Regarding the terminology councillors could use to explain naturism to their constituents, he said it was important that they be known as naturists and not nudists or naked people.

A woman councillor asked whether there was an age restriction, to which Lutge humourously replied that “she was still young enough” to join them.

 

Speaking to The Mercury, Lutge said he was disappointed a decision was not taken, but understood the municipality needed all the information to make a decision.

The association would not give up, though, he said.

[funnytannednudist]

Good news is that the beach has been approved to become a nudist beach and I cant wait as I live less than a 2 hours drive from the beach.nice to see that South Africa is getting more involved in nudism.