Tourism KwaZulu-Natal (TKZN) is looking to attract more international investment and visitors through its Beach Resorts Development Programme. TKZN said new beach resorts would broaden the province’s access to international markets and KwaZulu Natal’s airlift strategy would also help to increase the number of international tourists.

The organisation will work with Trade and Investment KZN and Tongaat-Hulett to woo international investors to put money in the programme when it attends the international property and investors show, MIPIM in France this week.

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TKZN will also engage potential internationally branded resort operators at MIPIM, such as Rezidor Hotel Group, Accor Hotels and Resorts, InterContinental Hotels and Resorts, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Best Western and Marriott Hotels and Resorts. 

According to the organisation, while the KZN coastline boasts about 560km of coastline, a lack of integrated coastal resorts was highlighted as a major gap in the tourism master plan. “Research and feedback from major international tour operators has shown that the coastline currently lacks a critical mass of internationally branded recognised beachfront hotels that span the five-star, four-star and three-star price or quality brackets. The development of these resorts can generate billions of rands and create massive job opportunities for local people and small businesses,” the organisation said.

TKZN said it had worked closely with German-based TUI to understand the requirements and specifications for international markets, as well as the German market, from a product development point of view.

However, the local trade is unconvinced. Giorgi Vass, COO of Springbok Atlas, and Elana Redelinghuys, GM of Guided Tours, believe that developing new beach resorts won’t necessarily draw in immediate international interest. 

Vass said it would take a while for new beach resorts to swing the interest of European clients, adding that the resorts would work well for the local market.

Redelinghuys said KwaZulu Natal was not really a consideration for first-time international travellers as they preferred to go to the ‘must see’ areas such as Kruger National Park, Cape Town and the Garden Route. 

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