Durban - eThekwini Municipality Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda will on Monday welcome over 2000 passengers expected to disembark from Queen Mary 2 after the biggest ocean liner docks at Durban Harbour.
In a statement on Thursday, the municipality said the Port of Durban would on April 3, welcome the biggest ocean liner, Queen Mary 2, to sail into the city.
“eThekwini Mayor Councillor Mxolisi Kaunda will be present to give a warm Durban welcome to the ship’s captain and over 2 000 guests who are scheduled to disembark Queen Mary 2 when she docks on Monday,” said the city.
According to the city, guests will be transferred to shuttle buses to visit tourism attractions in eThekwini and KwaZulu-Natal.
“Organised tours include City tours as well as visits to the Valley of 1000 Hills, Hluhluwe and St Lucia,” it said.
The city said the welcome of Queen Mary 2 came as the Port of Durban expansion was set to take off.
“This development is expected to be a major drawcard for cruise liners and will include five-star hotels, a museum, an exhibition centre, retail mall, apartments and an African cultural centre and science centre,” it said.
The docking of this ocean liner contributes to the national Department of Tourism’s Cruise Tourism Maximisation Strategy for 2021 to 2031, said the city.
“The strategy aims to robustly penetrate the cruise market by ensuring that more cruise liners stop in South Africa. The long-term strategy objectives are to focus on the impacts that cruise tourism has on cruise port destinations,” it said.