Durban tourism set to be showcased at international festival held in eSwatini
|Published
Durban — Tourism KwaZulu-Natal (TKZN), Durban Tourism and uShaka Marine World will work together in promoting the province’s tourism during the MTN Bushfire Music Festival. The festival takes place over the weekend – Friday (May 31) to Sunday – and this year marks the 17th edition. The festival will be hosted at Malkerns Valley, eSwatini.
Senior manager PR and Communications at Tourism KZN, Pinky Radebe, said: “We are using this event as a platform to exhibit and market the province and the city’s attractions to a wide and diverse audience with the aim of attracting more travellers from our neighbouring countries to Durban and KwaZulu-Natal.
“With the easy connections between the two destinations via eSwatini Air, we want to get more leisure and business travellers to Durban and KwaZulu-Natal.”
Deputy head of Tourism at Durban Tourism, Winile Mntungwa, said: “We are encouraging everyone to be on the lookout for the Durban Rickshaw Bus as we will have special give-aways from Durban, which is ready to welcome visitors from eSwatini and beyond.
“As a city tour on the Rickshaw Bus is one of the activities travellers can embark on in Durban, this activation is intended to show the people of eSwatini what they can expect and entice them to visit Durban.”
Marketing executive uShaka Marine World, Buhle Malunga, said: “The invitation to attend the MTN Bushfire Festival provides an opportunity for uShaka Marine World to engage stakeholders within SADC. Meeting at eSwatini is opportune as the country is one of the identified countries that are strategic for the promotion and growth of the uShaka Marine World brand.”
A joint statement by uShaka Marine World, Durban Tourism and TKZN, said that during 2023, some 625 000 international visitors came to KZN, of which 240 000 or 38.5% came from eSwatini making this a key source market for the province and the City of Durban. In 2019, nearly 300 000 travellers visited South Africa from eSwatini, of which 11.8% were tourism arrivals and more than 75% visiting friends and relatives.
The City of Durban and KwaZulu-Natal boast a vast array of fun and exciting experiences suitable for the entire family, couples, friends, and business travellers which can keep visitors busy for weeks.
“uShaka Marine World is the largest attraction in the city of Durban, boasting the largest aquarium in southern Africa and the highest slide yet. The park offers guests to create memories within a cost-effective range while enjoying unlimited fun. With six products to explore, uShaka Marine World should be on every African child’s bucket list,” they said.
As eSwatini is one of KZN’s key regional tourism markets with the two countries sharing both historical and cultural ties, TKZN continues its efforts to strengthen relations between the two by working closely with eSwatini’s media to promote KZN as a destination for leisure travellers.
The beach is still the most popular reason why travellers from eSwatini come to Durban-KZN and it is therefore fitting that TKZN, Durban Tourism and uShaka Marine World collaborate on this initiative to take a true beach experience to the MTN Bushfire and cement Durban-KZN as the ultimate beach destination to visit.
They concluded that last year, the entity hosted key members of the media from eSwatini to KZN and Durban as part of the ongoing initiatives to get more leisure travellers coming to Durban and KZN in the near future.
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