By Nokulunga Nzuza
Every year in May, the continent’s tourism industry meets at Africa’s Travel Indaba which has been held in Durban’s International Convention Centre (ICC) for the last couple of years.
In a statement released by Tourism KwaZulu-Natal, this year’s Indaba saw significant growth from last year as 1 200 buyers attended the event and they say this great turnout lasted until the very last day.
“We are very excited to see the last day of ATI still busy and vibrant. If we are talking post Covid recovery, we have our Indaba back,” said Tourism KZN’s Chief Operations Officer, Phindile Makwakwa in a statement.
Owner and Managing Director of Echo Gardens Guest House in Rustenburg in the North West Province, Tumi Jonas, was one of the people showcasing their offering at this year’s Indaba.
“We try to give convenience to all our guests. We offer complete relaxation for both business and leisure travellers. We try to accommodate our guest in a sense of that. Sometimes guests do not know there is a lot to do in Rustenburg – like adventure,” explained Jonas.
She hopes that her presence at this year’s Indaba will create better awareness for her and the area that she’s from.
“I have spoken to somebody from Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Botswana, so now I am looking to collaborate, especially with the travel agencies. So this event helped me to be able to have access to those people as compared to making a phone call,” Jonas said in excitement.
Tourism KwaZulu-Natal says trade meetings held at the event rose from 23 000 to over 24 000 this year.
