The majority of respondents to our latest poll say they are not more likely to recommend Durban to international visitors this year despite significant progress in addressing the coastal city’s infrastructure and safety challenges.
As reported by Tourism Update last week, initial data suggests Durban enjoyed 80-100% occupancies over the festive season with high-profile visitors and local hospitality establishments praising the city for addressing some of the major barriers to tourism.
However, when asked whether the improvements would make them more likely to recommend Durban to international tourists
- 50% of our readers said “No”.
- 27% of respondents said “Yes”.
- The remaining 23% were “Unsure”.
The city remains one of South Africa’s top domestic tourism destinations. In 2023, the KwaZulu-Natal province accounted for 15.2% of all domestic overnight trips – marginally behind the Western Cape (15.9%) and Limpopo (15.6%).
Are more platforms needed for G20 tourism linkages?
South Arica’s hosting of the G20 Summit and its associated events is expected to be a major catalyst for the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) sector. In a Tourism Update poll last year, a strong proportion of our tourism industry readers (42%) said the global political gathering will catalyse long-term growth of the MICE sector beyond the summit.
However, Tourism Update’s informal discussions with the industry suggest there is some uncertainty as to how tourism stakeholders can leverage the G20 Summit to stimulate more business and they mention lack of platforms to connect with opportunities.
Our poll question this week is:
