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Determined to boost the number of international leisure and business tourists to the province to pre-COVID 19 levels, a team from KZN Tourism and Film Authority has been aggressively marketing the region to trade contacts at two mega global exhibitions in Europe, the World Trade Market in London in early November 2024 and this week at the Incentives, Business Travel and Meetings (IBTM) in Spain.
The KZN Tourism and Film Authority teams have attended international market engagements across Africa and Europe as well as Australia and New Zealand, China, Japan, India, North America, and Mexico respectively since September 2024 to date.
They have further trade engagements all around the world – an approach which includes collaboration with South African Tourism (SAT), the Department of International Relations and Co-Operation (DIRCO), district municipalities and the tourism trade. The team includes members of the Durban-KZN Convention Bureau – part of KZN Tourism and Film Authority – along with representatives of Durban’s award-winning Chief Albert Luthuli Durban ICC who are currently in Spain, Barcelona.
The three-day expo, which attracted thousands of exhibitors and attendees and where 132, 000 connections are expected to be made, has proved the ideal marketing platform to enable the KZN team to re-ignite relationships and forge new ones.
The province and the Durban ICC assured business contacts, old and new, that the region has a good track record when it comes to hosting key events and that it is more than ready to position KZN as a leading business tourism destination. The entity was part of the South African Tourism (SAT) exhibition stand. The minister of tourism, Patricia de Lille welcomed the local team and other provincial representatives to the show during her ministerial walkabout. Although global tourism declined drastically during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is still a leading and resilient economic sector.
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An ambitious national target set by President Cyril Ramaphosa more than doubles South Africa’s international arrival target to 21 million by 2030. This, according to the chief operating officer for KZN Tourism and Film Authority, Jackie Motseoe, requires a deeper look into the top source markets and top long-haul markets as well as a better use of insights to understand the drivers of tourism in each market.
“We also engaged with National Geographic Traveller UK and Wanderlust travel magazines to share the province’s vibrant culture, adventure and sustainable travel offerings. KZN is to feature in the National Geographic Traveller UK’s February/ March 2025 edition and we are laying the foundations for the future. We do believe we have the right marketing strategies to reach out to travellers and to grow our numbers. We are also keeping up the momentum with our domestic market so that KZN remains the number one must-visit domestic tourism destination,” Motseoe said.
During WTM, KZN Tourism and Film Authority representatives were delighted to meet London-based Gaby Lewis, who is planning to take several clients to the province to host bespoke wellness retreats.
A former Durbanite, Lewis moved to England after getting a ballet scholarship and now runs her own wellness practice. A founding member of the Pilates Foundation UK, she holds a degree in anatomy and physiology and part of her therapy for clients involves bone strengthening exercises. She recently held a mind and body wellness retreat to Iceland and wanted to run a similar retreat to Durban and other parts of KZN next year.
“I am glad to have met Durban and KZN representatives and hope they can recommend local hotels where I can run my retreat. I will initially be bringing eight people with me as it is all about being bespoke,” said Lewis, adding that ‘it would be nice to return home’.
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