KwaZulu Natal is open for business – both from a tourism and tourism investment perspective – and ready to welcome more international visitors to its shores.
“Investment interest in KwaZulu Natal remains strong,” said KZN MEC for Health, Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu, at a breakfast hosted by Tourism KZN at Africa’s Travel Indaba 2024 in Durban this week.
Delivering the speech on behalf of MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Siboniso Duma, she highlighted that tourism investment opportunities worth at least R9.4 billion (€472.5 million) – with the potential to create over 3 000 temporary jobs during construction and over 3 000 permanent jobs – were in the pipeline for the province.
According to her, there is a portfolio of 15 catalytic projects across the province that will vastly improve the region’s tourism potential.
These projects – along with other private developments – were an indication of considerable confidence from private-sector investors, she said.
The MEC noted that eight of the catalytic projects would be private-sector-led and were mainly brown and greenfield developments.
Another four projects are part of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife’s commercialisation strategy, which requires private-sector investment partners to develop, operate and manage each of these on a 15- to 20-year Public-Private-Partnership concession.
According to Simelane-Zulu, 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.
Key private-sector projects
Presenting at the breakfast, 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, CEO of Africa Habitat Conservancy and its subsidiary Babanango Game Reserve – a rewilding and conservation project that has set a precedent for community ownership of a Big 5 lodge – said the recently completed investment project had created 220 jobs, of which more than 75% were drawn from the local community. Babanango is now the largest employer in its district municipality.
Carlos Correia, CEO of Fundamentum Property Group, which is behind the mega Westown development at Shongweni, said the 20-year project would bring significant socio-economic value to the outer west region of eThekwini, with the first phase of the project due to open in March 2025.
He said the municipality had already invested R600m (€30.1m) in bulk infrastructure for the project, which is estimated to generate some R15bn (€754m) in investment over the next 10 to 15 years with over R3.5bn (€176m) already committed and being invested.
Simelane-Zulu said international traveller interest in the province had improved with projections that the total annual number of international visitors would increase to 800 000 annual pax from the close to 650 000 recorded in 2023.
