KwaZulu-Natal is now the market leader for domestic tourism in South Africa,
as well as number two in terms of international tourism. KwaZulu-Natal's rich
history and diverse cultures, magnificent Drakensberg mountains, sub-tropical
coastline with glorious beaches and game parks provide many wonderful leisure
and recreation opportunities. Currently both the public and the private sector
are developing the KwaZulu-Natal
tourism product.
Finalists are Durban Tourism, Gooderson
Leisure Corporation, SibayaCasino & EntertainmentKingdom, and Tourism KZN.
Durban is a leading South African tourist destination and is marketed both
nationally and internationally by Durban Tourism, a marketing unit that forms
part of the EthekwiniMunicipality.
Durban Tourism has considerable progress in
repositioning the city as a sophisticated destination with an extensive variety
of things to do. In re-aligning itself to be at the cutting edge of worldwide
trends in destination marketing, the city is focussing on providing visitors
with a unique set of experiences that go beyond the beach and into the realm of
Durban's
cultural and scenic diversity.
Recognising that tourism is an industry
that is never static, Durban tourism is committed to building and defending the
Durban brand, thus ensuring that it remains not only the national destination
of choice, but also that of Pan-African and International Tourists.
Afrisun officially opened its magnificent SibayaCasino &
EntertainmentKingdom
on the hill overlooking the Indian Ocean north of Durban in December 2004. All eyes in the
gaming, tourism and leisure industry have been firmly set on this new product
which has already delivered on its promise to provide a financial injection
into KZN's economy.
Managed by Sun International, Southern Africa's largest resort and leisure
corporation, SibayaCasino & EntertainmentKingdom, besides being KZNs most
technologically advanced casino, has numerous entertainment offerings.
With this growth comes further investment and, as
a result, job creation. As one of the major developments in this area, Sibaya
has been able to contribute on a very real level to encouraging this future investment
and indeed creating 1600 permanent jobs.
Tourism KwaZulu-Natal (TKZN) has the many
and varied jewels of the province sharply in its sights. As the destination
marketing organization for the province TKZN is determined to ensure that the
Zulu Kingdom maintains its lion share of the domestic market while boosting its
international image so as to increase interest in, and visits to, the
destination.
Given the value of word-of-mouth
destination marketing TKZN has placed a premium on improving visitor
experiences in the ZuluKingdom. Through its
Service Excellence Campaign and Awards (pioneered in 2002) that showcases
tourism's best practice the organisation aims to encourage other tourism
players to improve service delivery.
TKZN subscribes to the view that excellent
service, matched by an equally welcoming environment, will motivate happy tourists
to recommend the destination to friends, families and colleagues once back home
and also results in repeat visits, which is critical in the diversifying of
product offerings.
In its striving for excellence TKZN
recently became an affiliate member of the
United Nations World Tourism Organization's
(UNWTO), a spin-off of winning the Ulysses award for innovation in tourism
governance in the field of information and knowledge management. TKZN will
participate in the activities of the Destination Council of the UNWTO, which
includes its Centre of Destination Management Excellence. Currently this
council is setting important new standards that will measure the effectiveness
of individual destination management organisations.
Winner
Gooderson Leisure Corporation owns and
manages a variety of Leisure destinations within KwaZulu-Natal, offering guests the
experience of the coast, majestic mountains, game viewing, Zulu culture or
historic battlefields.
Properties include: The Tropicana Hotel and
Beach Hotel located on the Marine Parade Durban, Drakensberg Gardens Golf and
Leisure Resort based in the Southern Drakensberg, Dumazulu Traditional Village
& Lodge as well as Bushlands Game Lodge based in Hluhluwe, Zululand and Natal Spa Hot Springs Resort & Conference
Centre located on the Battlefields
Route between Vryheid and Paulpietersberg.
Between the six properties and head-office,
Gooderson Leisure facilitates in creating and sustaining job creation for
people residing within the province and thus assists with employment. Gooderson
recognises and has relationships with South African Commercial Catering and
Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU) which is representative of some of its
employees.
The company is also involved in various
community projects offering opportunities for education as well as
self-sustainability.
Currently the group is in the process of a
huge upgrade programme at the various properties, which will enhance the group
and lift the properties. The refurbishment is scheduled to be complete prior to
the 2010 world cup.
