/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

On behalf of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government we wish to start by expressing our appreciation once again to the national government led by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

We are grateful that KwaZulu-Natal Province was identified to host this important event on behalf of the South African Government.
Standing here before you, I am inspired by the world icon: uTata Nelson Mandela. He is a global brand very few can compete with. Madiba touched the hearts of many people across the globe and brought hope to the less privileged and the oppressed.

Most importantly, he is the Father of the Rainbow Nation. Therefore, this is the day on which all of us must remember that this freedom belongs to all the people of this country.

Programme Director, I wish to thank the Minister of Tourism Ms Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane for the leadership throughout September.
Equally, we wish to express our appreciation to the representatives of the entire tourism industry. I am referring to tour operators, brand strategists, creative directors, public relations practitioners, exhibitors, marketers, the media and other professionals.

We can state without a shadow of a doubt that through your support, KwaZulu-Natal Province has been put firmly on the global map.
We acknowledge, with humility your support and commitment towards building the tourism sector as an engine of job creation.

2020 World Football Summit
Ladies and Gentlemen, at this stage we wish to take this opportunity and announce officially that KwaZulu-Natal Province has been selected to host the 2020 World Football Summit.

On the 24th September, I led a delegation to Madrid in Spain where we were officially presented as the next host province. Our City Durban, competed against Canada, Hong Kong in China and Buenos Aires in Argentina
Over the next few weeks, we will unveil a hosting programme and a list of activities that will ensure that we host the most memorable 2020 World Football Summit.

As part of the countdown to the Summit, we want to work with all stakeholders in the tourism industry to create more jobs and cement our top spot as a tourists’ destination.

WFS is the international event of the football industry which brings together more than 80 countries, over 2,300 attendees and 90 speakers.
We will be expected to ensure excellent transport and accommodation for a further 160 soccer clubs, leading executives, and more than 100 media houses. There is an estimation of an economic impact of about R800 million.

We view this summit as a platform to showcase areas of interests for investments and leisure to the global audience of more than a billion.
In preparation for this occasion and beyond, huge investment will be made in the development of our people and infrastructure that will create a platform for a higher trajectory of growth.

Programme Director allow me to highlight areas of investments that we believe will enhance the tourism sector as we move forward.

Firstly, on the 12th September we unveiled a 50-Year Masterplan which cover 3200 hectares of land and 1000 hectares of green space. The Durban Aerotropolis will create 75 000 jobs from different sectors of our economy with tourism benefitting tremendously. We have projected a potential investment of R1 trillion.

On the 13th September we welcomed delegates and experts from around the world as part of the International Investment Conference.  They all spoke with one voice and endorsed our multiple studies that have showed that a City growing around an Airport will connect workers, suppliers, executives and goods to the global market place. To date, we are inundated with enquiries from potential investors. This augurs well for the tourism industry.

It should be noted that since the launch of King Shaka International Airport we have an increase in the number of arrival of tourists in this province. The data from the Airports Company of SA (Acsa) shows that international passenger arrivals jumped to a 25.1% year-on-year increase in July and a 24.7% year on year-on-year rise in June after falling by 14.4% year-on-year in May.

Programme Director, we wish to pause and invite members of the media, marketers and other professionals in the creative industry to use their creative talent to make everybody imagine our Durban Aerotropolis.
When we talk about an Airport City around King Shaka International Airport, there are few things that we always ask our potential investors to imagine.
We ask them to:
·         Imagine a hotel connected directly to the terminal which has conference and meeting facilities. Therefore, from a meeting, you can walk straight back into the terminal.
·         Imagine Medical tourism. We are seriously looking forward to a solid and close relationship between a hospital and the airport.  We are imagining patients being flown in and transferred to a specialised hospital in one seamless motion. Surgical kits, vaccines, pharmaceutical products and medical equipment which could easily be flown in to the hospital near the airport.
·         Imagine wedding facilities in the City within King Shaka International Airport. You get married and then fly out to go on a honeymoon.
·         Imagine wherein expensive clothing items are manufactured in the City within the Airport and then flown to rest of Africa and the globe.
·         Imagine flying in foreign tourists and connecting them directly to the many other Tourism assets in the Province. The construction and development of a new Cruise ship terminal at the Port of Durban by Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) is underway in order to maximize our share from the growing global cruise tourism industry.

This is opportune in that foreign tourists can be flown in via King Shaka International Airport and then flown up to various parts of KwaZulu-Natal including Northern KwaZulu-Natal to enjoy the many game reserves, safari’s, local cuisine, Cultural experience and other offerings in the province. They are then linked to the Durban Cruise ship Terminal as part of the greater tourism experience in the province.
Thereby we are encouraging spending by offering a holistic tourism package over and above a holiday on a cruise ship. Promoting the travel industry and tourism development broadly remains key to exploit the dormant demand.
Ladies and Gentlemen, there are many other plans that we have put in place to ensure that KZN remains a leading destination for domestic and international tourists.
These includes hosting international music festivals: I would like to pause and play a video of American musicians that we hosted in KZN recently.
 
Ladies and Gentlemen : as you can see – KwaZulu-Natal is becoming a destination of choice.
In 2017 the number of people directly employed in the Travel and tourism sector in KZN equated to approximately 81 022, whilst the industry’s total contribution to employment within the province was estimated at 162 044.

In 2017, tourism’s direct contribution to GDP in KZN was R9.4 billion while the total contribution to GDP was approximated at R18.8 billion.  There are about 71,382 people directly employed but our plan is to increase this number by creating 10 000 jobs in this sector over the next five years.
 
We cannot talk about tourism without mentioning the work done by our own Convention Bureau. During our Term of Office, the hard work of the Durban, KwaZulu-Natal Convention Bureau resulted in 80 major conferences, exhibitions and meetings being held in the Province, contributing approximately R4.5 billion to the local economy.
 
We have also ensured that these economic benefits impact communities across the Province by both encouraging and facilitating a geographic spread of hosted business events.
 
We want to attract investment to gradually develop low-end tourism destinations in rural areas and the periphery where the majority of our population live. We want to move beyond the point from where our communities are mere observers in the tourism sector, to where they can become active participants and true tourism ambassadors for our Country and Province
 
More than ten business events will be hosted by the Convention Bureau in 2019/20, with a total estimated economic impact of R2.1bn. These includes the following:-
 
·        Institute of Municipal Engineering of Southern Africa (IMESA) Conference
·        International Forest Enterprise Congress
·        World Congress on Drowning Prevention
·        African Rail Evolution (KZN Export Week)
·        United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)
·        2019 AfreximBank Trade Finance Seminar and Afreximbank Compliance Forum
·        Association of African Development Finance Institution CEO’s Forum
·        Global Business Service Investment Conference
            Forbes Woman Africa – Leading Women Summit 2020
·        African Women in Leadership Conference (AWLO Africa Summit)
 
With those words, we would like thank all MECs from other provinces who are with us today. We thank you for being here and we undertake to work with you because we understand that we cannot prosper in isolation.
 
We thank members of parliament and members of legislatures for their oversight role.
 
With those words, allow me to introduce the Minister of Tourism, Ms. Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane.
 
Let us all salute the Minister for showing deep commitment to wards working with the people of this country across all racial lines to strengthen service delivery.
 
In all her deployment she has shown exemplary leadership. She has served in the following portfolios.

Minister of Science and Technology

Minister of Communications

Minister of Energy

Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Telecommunications and Postal Services

Whip of Parliamentary Committee on Basic and Higher Education and Training

Issued by The KZN Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs