Durban tourism shifts gear
Coastal destination attracts interest from international hospitality groups
DURBAN is going to get three internationally-branded five-star hotels, Mike Deighton, the property executive of Tongaat Hulett, told Indaba delegates at the weekend.
“The interest is substantial,” Deighton, said later.
The hotels – the brands are not being named at this stage – will go up on Ridgeside, on the prime sea-facing slopes of uMhlanga Ridge. Deighton was speaking at a Tourism KwaZulu-Natal breakfast briefing, one of the highlights of the three-day Indaba, which ends today.
The fully-zoned sites, with a total floor area of 575 000m will go up on 42ha of the last 62ha at Ridgeside, which Tongaat Hulett released for investment at the end of 2013.
One of the hotels could be up to 30 stories in height, Deighton said.
The agricultural and agroprocessing firm - the master plan land developers – has been marketing the site around the world and there was now major interest from “three different regions”, Deighton explained.
“Once we get the first (hotel), the others will come,” Deighton predicted, adding that “there is no reason why construction cannot get under way within three to four months” of a deal being signed.
Gateway shopping centre, Zimbali and the upmarket “Izinga” residential suburb near Gateway, have all gone up on the company’s land, once all under sugar cane.
“Durban is becoming increasingly recognised as a global city,” Deighton said in an interview.
The host of international accolades that Durban had received was helping to build the brand in what was a highly competitive environment, he said.
The international hotels would “enhance Durban hugely”, Deighton said.
The reason the city was not more competitive was because it had a shortage of five-star hotels, particularly international ones.
Beauty
The beauty of attracting globally-known hotels was that they brought brand new markets to the area.
They had their own networks and databases, which would enable them to promote Durban.
Mike Mabuyakhulu, the MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, who chaired the gathering, attended by tourism ministers from several other African countries, said a conference would be held in the next two months to interest investors and strategic partners in the proposed uKhahlambaDrakensberg cable car.
Cable car manufacturers would also be invited.
Mabuyakhulu first punted the idea of the cable car at the 2012 Indaba.
He also announced at the Indaba briefing that Qatar Airways would be flying to Durban from December 17.
He would disclose further details later this week, he said.
However, sources said later that there would be four flights a week from Abu Dhabi.
Planes would first go to Johannesburg (letting off passengers), then fly to Durban and vice versa.
The MEC also spoke about the proposal for a massive statue of King Shaka on the North Coast, overlooking the Tugela River mouth, some 90km from Durban.
At 106m high, it would be 13m taller than the Statue of Liberty.
“A team is now beginning to look at that project,” he said.
Several projects – including the cable car and statue – are in the tourism master plan, and the MEC said that “we are now moving into an era of implantation”.
“We (the provincial government) don’t necessarily invest, but we work with investors in supporting initiatives,” he said.
Meanwhile, CemAir, which began flying between OR Tambo Airport in Johannesburg and Margate 18 months ago, will introduce additional flights to serve the business market from June 22, South Coast Tourism has announced.
During those 18 months, flights doubled and the carrier capacity had increased from a 19-seater plane to a 37-seater aircraft.
Now, because of the high demand, a same-day service was being introduced, with passengers being able to catch an early flight to Johannesburg, returning to Margate in the early evening.