KwaZulu-Natal Business 2016-17 edition

OVERVIEW
Tourism
Two international airlines have announced new routes connecting to Durban.
KwaZulu-Natal has a very varied tourism offering – mountains,
heritage, beaches, conventions, sports – and the tourists who
enjoy visiting the province are almost as varied.
In 2015, a new venture between the provincial department
of tourism, local tour operator Akilanga and a Polish charter company
called Rainbow Tours saw 2 500 Polish tourists visit KwaZulu-Natal.
Qatar Airways launched their third route to South Africa with
a Durban-Doha offering, close followed by the announcement of a
Turkish Airlines Durban-Istanbul flight. This is likely to further diversify and
increase the number of tourists visiting KwaZulu-Natal.
Arrivals at King Shaka International Airport between January and
September 2015 were at 1 717 721, compared to 1 648 285 in 2014.
National figures for 2013 put the total number of tourists visiting
South Africa at 9.6-million (out of 14.8-million visitors). Increases were
recorded from these regions: the UK, SA's biggest market (1%, a figure
which probably reflects a degree of saturation); Europe (7%); rest of Africa
(4%) including an increase of 15.4% among Nigerians; North America
(6.7%); Australasia (4%); Asia (34%) and Central and South America (37%).
The numbers for the last two regions clearly show that the focus
on China and Brazil that has been part of SA's country marketing is
paying off.
According to StatsSA, tourism's direct contribution to GDP accounted
for 3% of GDP in 2012, an amount of R93.3-billion. There were
617 287 direct jobs in that sector, 4.6% of employment in the country.
In KwaZulu-Natal, the combined contribution of retail and tourism
to GDP is 14%. Many thousands of visitors to KwaZulu-Natal arrive by
road, and the statistics for January-October 2015 show that 1.65-million
motorists passed through the Mooi River toll plaza, but a very
important arrival method for tourists in the high-end of the market is
by cruise liner. After many delays, tenders have been called for the construction
of a terminal that will be dedicated to receiving cruise liners.
The Port of Durban envisages a 32 000m² area that will cater for
two ships and at least 5 000 passengers. The number of cruise-ship
passengers attracted to Durban grew from 42 000 in 2004/05 to 157 000
in 2010/11. South Africa attracts 0.5% of the world’s cruise-ship market,
which comprises about 15.4-million passengers annually.
One of the tender competitors will be MSC Cruises, which itself
dealt with about 90 000 cruise passengers through Durban harbour
in 2014. In the summer months the MSC Sinfonia and MSC Opera sail
from Durban to Mozambique, in addition to other destinations in
SECTOR HIGHLIGHTS
Hotel occupancy rose to
63.8% in 2015.
• The Loeries Creative
Week will boost the regional
economy for the
next three years.
• Tenders have been invited
to build a cruise ship
terminal in Durban.
the Indian Ocean. It is expected
that Transnet will also bid for the
right to build the much-needed
terminal.
Hotels
Research by Tourism KwaZulu-
Natal (TKZN) shows that the
coastal province consistently has
the best hotel occupancies in the
country. Hotel occupancy in the
province rose to 63.8% in 2015
compared to 60.7% in 2014.
Tsogo Sun runs 14 hotels in
KwaZulu-Natal, five of which are
Garden Courts. Six hotels are located
in Durban with a further
four in nearby Umhlanga, where
one of the group’s most luxurious
hotels, the 89-room Beverly Hills,
is located.
A new 'mega-hotel' has been
created by Tsogo Sun, with the
amalgamation of the Southern
Sun North Beach and Southern
Sun Elangeni hotels. With
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