KwaZulu-Natal has proven to be the must-see, must-visit destination in South Africa as the province celebrates a triumphant festive season, with visitors to Durban spending in excess of R1 billion.
Pinky Radebe, the KZN Tourism and Film Authority's head of public relations and communications, said the KwaZulu-Natal festive season demonstrated a notable success surpassing performance of the previous four years, as indicated by the KZN Tourism and Film’s preliminary Festive Performance Report for 2024/2025, which is supported by national and international statistics.
She said the coastal towns in KwaZulu-Natal have fully recovered to pre-Covid 19 tourism levels.
"For the Easter and winter season campaigns the KZN Tourism and Film Authority continues to achieve its geographical tourism spread to ensure that visitors explore all parts of KwaZulu-Natal. Similarly during the December and January period we showed that major successes were shown particularly in the south and north of KwaZulu-Natal and with Spionkop activities in the Drakensberg and Isandlwana battlefields, which is part of the heritage tourism, the influx of international tourists was pleasing," said Radebe.
Data from Statistics South Africa underscores the revival, with South Africa's tourist arrivals reaching 8.92 million in 2024, a 5.1% increase from 2023. The bulk of these visitors hailed from the African continent, with 6.8 million arrivals accounting for 76% of the total tourist numbers.
According to tourism officials, the gap in pre-COVID-19 figures has significantly narrowed, indicating that the recovery process is producing results.
Dr Sibusiso Ndebele, chairperson of the KZN Tourism and Film Authority, said the resurgence was slowly beginning to show.
"Our overall target is for more international tourists, but our primary focus is to grow the domestic market. As we climb close to pre-pandemic levels in 2025 we realise that travellers may increasingly seek value for money and take trips closer to home in response to the challenging economic environment,’’ said Ndebele.
He said one of their successes over the past festive period was the stronger partnership with the security cluster.
"The provincial Safer Festive Season Campaign involving all 184 police stations, with additional officers, as well as tourism ambassadors and the deployment of 178 high-performance vehicles gave tourists and visitors added comfort,’’ said Ndebele.
The preliminary projections for eThekwini indicated an impressive direct spend of R1.64 billion, contributing R4.07 billion to the GDP and generating 7366 jobs.
Brett Tungay, chairperson of the Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (FEDHASA), said the successful festive season was a clear indication that the KZN tourism economy has rebounded from the last four years and is now entering a season of positive growth.
James Seymour, vice chairperson of Drakensberg Experience and chairperson of the Uthekela Drakensberg Tourism Cluster Initiative, said many of the tourism establishments in the Drakensberg reported high occupancy – between 80-90%.
Sibusiso Gumbi, interim CEO of KZN Tourism and Film, said the positive provincial tourism performance has reinforced the entity’s commitment to drive inclusive growth and job creation for the sector.
‘’As we move forward with the integration of both the tourism and film sectors, it's clear that KZN is poised to become the ultimate number one destination choice.
‘’We are dedicated to elevating KZN's presence on the global stage, forging vital connections to key source markets through strategic partnerships and cutting-edge marketing initiatives.
“There was a significant geographical spread of tourism activities across the province. For instance, in the Drakensberg, tourists from many Commonwealth countries are particularly interested in the Battlefields route legacy. And with the Rovos Rail stopping at Ladysmith, the route is becoming more accessible,” he added.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE