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The traditional bell-ringing ceremony opened the 2024 Africa Travel Indaba signalling that Durban and KwaZulu Natal is open for business, and ready to welcome visitors, both from a tourism and tourism investment perspective.
Delivering a speech on behalf of MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Siboniso Duma, the MEC for Health, Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu highlighted that tourism investment opportunities in the pipeline for KwaZulu Natal worth at least R9.4 billion, have the potential to create over 3000 temporary jobs during construction and over 3000 permanent jobs to the region.
Simelane-Zulu added, “Investment interest in KwaZulu Natal remains strong,” and that a portfolio of 15 catalytic projects across the province are set to vastly improve the region’s tourism potential. The projects are an indication of growth in confidence from private-sector investors.
Eight of the catalytic projects would be private-sector-led and were mainly brown and greenfield developments.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife’s commercialisation strategy includes four projects requiring private-sector investment partners to develop, operate and manage each project on a 15- to 20-year Public-Private-Partnership concession.
Simelane-Zulu added that this will enrich and expand Ezemvelo’s ecotourism products to meet the ever-growing hunger for unique eco-tourism experiences whilst enabling the entity to focus on its important conservation mandate.
“The KZN North Coast is an enviable strip of coastline stretching from the Tongaat River at Zimbali all the way to Kosi Bay. Here we have another four projects in one of our greatest tourism assets, the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. We are looking for private-sector investment partners to develop, operate and manage government assets within this very special World Heritage Site,” she said.
“The feasibility studies, design developments and business plans have been completed for each of these projects. The land has been secured and they have the support of the relevant municipalities.”
Simelane-Zulu added that, because investment was for the “bold and brave”, the province needed to not only be easy to visit but easy to do business in.
Olivier Perillat, General Manager of Club Med SA, said the R2bn (€100.5m) Club Med resort project, which is due to open in July 2026, would be a force for regional growth. The 32-hectare beach resort and 30 000-hectare Big 5 Bush Lodge in northern Zululand are expected to create 800 direct jobs, 1 500 indirect jobs and 1 200 construction jobs.
DrAndrew Baxter, the CEO of Africa Habitat Conservancy and its subsidiary Babanango Game Reserve commented on their rewilding and conservation project which has led to community ownership of a Big-5 lodge, creating 220 jobs. With more than 75% of these being drawn from the local community Babanango is now the largest employer in its district municipality.
CEO of Fundamentum Propoerty group, Carlos Correia – the company behind the Westown development at Shongweni, said their 20-year project would bring significant socio-economic growth to the outer west region of eThekwini, with the first phase of the project due to open in March 2025.
He remarked on the municipalities investment of R600m in bulk infrastructure for the project which is expected to generate approximately R15bn in investment over the next 10 to 15 years, of which more than R3.5bn has already been invested.
Simelane-Zulu added that with international traveller interest in the province improving projections now estimate that the total annual number of international visitors would increase from the almost 650,000 in 2023 to an expected 800,000 annually.
