Africa's Travel Indaba another bumper revenue generator for Durban and KZN

DURBAN and KwaZulu-Natal will be welcoming thousands of key members of the global travel industry to the city and the region for the Africa’s Travel Indaba (ATI) 2025 that begins today and ends on Thursday, at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre, 

Yesterday, Reverend Musa Zondi, KZN MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs; eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba; Sibusiso Gumbi, interim CEO for KZN Tourism and Film Authority (KZNTAFA) and its board chairperson, Dr Sibusiso Ndebele, did a walkabout, inspecting the installation of the exhibition stands at the host venue and welcomed delegates and guests.

The opening day of the ATI, doubled as a BonDay (Business Opportunity Networking Day). At least 40 tourism ambassadors also joined in by assisting with chaperoning and enabling visitors to become familiar with various events and the layout of the venue.

Such was the interest from exhibitors at this years ATI that floor space at the ICC and Durban Exhibition Centre has been fully booked, which set the scene for a bumper business event.

Owned by South African Tourism (SAT), the ATI has been staged in Durban for more than 30 years, and the city and province, were once again bidding for it to remain in the Zulu Kingdom.

SAT has said that there were more buyers, more exhibitors and more business being done than ever before.

More than 700 local tourism businesses were being represented, and there will also be 66 exhibitors from Botswana, 35 from Kenya, 56 from Zimbabwe and 25 from Namibia.

The ATI will showcase 440 accommodation exhibitors: 266 of them hotels, 174 game lodges/nature reserves, 91 adventure experiences and 23 airlines - the highest number of airlines to be showcased at event.

Local bus and shuttle services are expected to be kept busy ferrying delegates from hotels across the city to the ICC. Hotel occupancy is already standing at almost 90%.

Gumbi said: “Eateries around the city are buzzing already from the weekend Soweto derby and will continue during this week. We are enjoying the economic benefits of hosting an event of such magnitude.

“As KZN, we have rolled out the red carpet to ensure that delegates get to enjoy the very best of the Zulu Kingdom and have magical experiences that they can package and sell when they go back home.

"The ATI presents a wonderful opportunity for these small and medium-sized tourism businesses to meet and forge long-lasting relationships with international buyers who will bring them business and help to usher them to even greater heights within the tourism sector, he added.

Jaya Naidoo, East Coast General Manager of the Federation of Hotel Associations of South African (Fedhasa) said ATI significantly influenced hotel bookings, particular in the host city of Durban and with similar reports coming from Umhlanga.  

“Hotels are running at high levels during the Indaba- ranging from 80% to 90%,” Naidoo said.

A dozen small and medium tourism enterprises (SMMEs) have been given the opportunity to showcase their businesses at the KZNTAFA exhibition stand. These include Cynthia Hives Estate, Under African Skies, Tandweni Villa and Biwenda, Dumi Legacy Tours, Burnham House B&B, Sinapis Travel, Excellent Shuttle and Taxi Services, Isiphosethu Travel Services, Indoni Eco Village, and Tanomuntu Travel Tours.

The businesses range from shuttle services to golf tours and venue operators. The ICC’s neighbouring Durban Hilton Hotel is now fully open and will be home to countless delegates during ATI, just as it was in years gone by.

The hotel will also be the venue of some of the ATI gatherings, including the KZN Business Breakfast co-hosted by KZNTAFA today.

The KZNTAFA team got down to business even before the ATI began by hosting buyers from Europe.

Ten buyers from India were being hosted during ATI and American buyers will be hosted after the exhibition.

The team will also host a workshop for their Indian guests, where they will lay out the various MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) opportunities that exist in the region as part of positioning KZN as the top business tourism destination.

Durban Direct representatives will be at the KZNTAFA stand once again this year.

DAILY NEWS