eThekwini City Manager Musa Mbhele, accompanied by other officials, during a walkabout on the Durban promenade on Monday to ensure that all systems were in place for safety, security and maintenance as Africa’s Travel Indaba started. Picture: Doctor Ngcobo/Independent Newspapers
The leadership of eThekwini Municipality has vowed to prioritise infrastructure development, safety and cleanliness to bring more tourists to the City.
This commitment was made by the municipal manager, Musa Mbhele during a walk-about at the Durban Beachfront to assess the City’s state of readiness to host Africa’s Travel Indaba. The tourism showpiece held at the Durban ICC started on Monday and will end on Thursday.
Mbhele said the municipality is working hard to ensure that infrastructure is functional and the City is clean.
“As part of our inner city regeneration programme, we are ensuring the public realm upgrade is done which includes Mahatma Gandhi Road.”
Mbhele added that the Inner-City Regeneration Programme aims to revitalise urban areas. “It employs a multifaceted strategy involving infrastructure upgrades, public realm enhancement, and social housing initiatives to improve residents’ quality of life, attract more investment and attract tourists.”
Mbhele said the City was fully prepared to host the indaba. “As part of our precinct ambassadors programme over 300 youth have been employed for the indaba. Their jobs entail providing top-up services to help report homeless people and redirect them to where they should be.”
Mbhele said clean public facilities will help to ensure that the City has a welcoming environment for tourists.
“We also have had positive reactions from businesses in the city that the precinct ambassadors have made a difference to the surroundings of their businesses and improved safety.”
Winnie Zama, Metro police deputy commissioner, said the organisation was well aware of the importance of safety at the indaba.
“We are aware that the Durban beachfront is an important tourist destination for all the visitors that want to enjoy Durban. Our plan is to ensure the safety of all our visitors, covering all the hotels, all the roads to the ICC, the Durban ICC itself and all the areas where there are side events.”
Mbhele said in the 2023 Africa Travel Indaba over 22 countries participated.
“They contributed over R400 million to the GDP and over R500m to the KwaZulu-Natal economy. This signifies that we are still one of the best tourist destinations in the country.”
The tourism ministry said that floor space for the indaba was completely sold out. “This year will see an unprecedented participation of 26 African countries exhibiting.”
The tourism ministry said the countries represent 344 products that would showcase an increase of 14% compared with last year’s 301 products.
“The 26 countries exhibiting this year include Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zanzibar, and Zimbabwe.”
Patricia de Lille, Minister of Tourism, said that the indaba’s mission and commitment were driving the continent’s economic development and promoting collaboration. “I am particularly pleased to welcome the new countries that are joining us exhibiting at the trade show for the first time. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial partnership,” said De Lille.
The Mercury
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