Page 56 - TKZN Annual Report 2023/2024
P. 56

Tourism KZN worked with South African Tourism Australia to plan a familiarisation tour for ten Australian trade who participated in the Mega Lekker Fam project which took place in February 2024. TKZN’s involvement included the drafting of the itinerary, negotiating rates with KZN trade and hosting a welcome dinner.
Tourism KZN facilitated digital profiling of four KZN products featured in Travel and Leisure magazine’s top 50 best places to travel in 2024. The products featured were Phinda game reserve, Madwaleni in Babanango Game Reserve, Sala Beach House and Nambiti Game reserve which translated to direct destination exposure.
Europe
Tourism KZN participated at the Vakantiebeurs show which took place in Utrecht, Netherlands over the period 10-14 January 2024. The show is both trade and consumer oriented, and attracts trade and consumers from the Netherlands and other parts of Europe. The Dutch market is strategic for Tourism KZN as it provides KZN and South Africa with repeat visitors. The purpose of our participation was to create awareness and to portray a positive image of the destination. KwaZulu-Natal is well placed to become a destination of choice in this market as the Dutch seek adventure, culture, safari and sustainable products, attributes that KwaZulu-Natal possesses in abundance. As a result of participating in Vakantiebeurs, TKZN conducted a destination presentation to 57 Dutch consumers and 12 trade.
Tourism KZN pursued partnerships with associations like ATTA - AFRICAN TRAVEL AND TOURISM ASSOCIATION, TURSAB - TURKKIYE SEYAHAT ACENTEALARI BIRLIGI. These partnerships provide unlimited access to the members of the association and insights of the travel trends.
TKZN engaged with Hollywood Bets and embassies to support travel missions and trade show participations like World Routes in Turkey. These forged relationships enhanced the destination promotion objective, and demonstrate the collaboration between the public and private sector.
The entity conducted a tourism trade engagement event in Istanbul, Turkey in partnership with TURSAB, Turkey’s largest travel association with15,000 members. TURSAB sponsored the venue for tourism seminar which will take place as part of the Tourism KZN and Investment Mission. A comprehensive list of Turkish travel trade contacts from the Turkey mission received KZN destination information.
Tourism KZN also participated in the World Travel Market 2023 in London, meeting with over 20 companies to promote KZN’s sustainable tourism experiences. Detailed account management efforts were made by contacting tour operators and associations for partnerships.
The entity also hosted a writer from National Geographic Traveller UK along with a photographer for four nights, showcasing KZN’s trails in the Drakensberg.
The National Geographic Traveller (UK) is published 10 times a year and has a circulation of 50,000. The feature walso appeared in its many international print editions and online (the website has one million unique visitors per month; www.nationalgeographic.com/travel). The target audience is young and affluent, and spend a large proportion of their disposable income on travel. The piece appeared in the National Geographic Traveller’s showcase cover story on South Africa, which was published in March 2024.
Tourism KZN also hosted three French maritime journalists in June 2023 ahead of South Africa being the guest country at the Grand Pavois International Boat Show in France in September, showcasing coastal experiences and facilities to promote the ocean economy. This platform gave KZN destination an opportunity to promote the product offering to the French market.
Other activities included hosting seven UAE travel agents showcasing safari and Durban experiences.
The North Europe roadshow took place in the Netherlands and Belgium on 16-22 January 2024. Tourism KwaZulu-Natal used this platform to engage over 100 Dutch travel trade. As a result of participating on this platform, TKZN conducted destination training to 113 agents and tour operators. The trade was supplied with destination information which illustrates how the destination can be packaged.
Air route marketing
Tourism KZN co-chairs the KwaZulu-Natal Route Development Committee (RDC), tasked with implementation of the province’s airlift strategy.
During the period under review, the RDC engaged a number of international airlines to drive direct landings into Durban’s King Shaka International Airport (KSIA). Achievements during the year included activations with Proflight Zambia to launch the re-introduction of the Lusaka-Durban route in April 2023, and the Eswatini Air launch of a direct Manzini-Durban flight in May 2023.
54 TOURISM KWAZULU-NATAL ANNUAL REPORT 2023/2024
  

















































































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