ILembe North Coast ready for visitors this summer
|Published
The KZN North Coast is ready to welcome visitors, offering five-star accommodation, top-notch leisure attractions and activity sites with breath-taking views, and first-class fine dining venues. Picture: Supplied
The Enterprise iLembe Economic Development Agency (ELEDA) has announced that the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast is ready to host visitors and that it is confident tourism and hospitality numbers will outpace even pre-pandemic levels.
According to the enterprise, this is due to impact tourism, a growing trend where travellers prioritise destinations and activities focused on environmental sustainability and local community investment.
As a result holiday towns such as Zimbali, Ballito, Salt Rock, Umhlali, Tinley Manor and Zinkwazi are expected to see the pounds, dollars and rands rolling into the them.
Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Linda Mncube, said the KZN North Coast is open for business and ready to welcome visitor and their wallets to the region which is one large playground to relax and unwind.
“The KZN North Coast offers five-star accommodation, top-notch leisure attractions and activity sites with breath-taking views, and first-class fine dining venues,” he said.
Mncube said that there has been some anxiety about the state of beaches in KZN, however, beaches along the KZN North Coast are safe and daily tests are conducted to make sure that the water is safe for all visitors to enjoy and to view bottlenose dolphins frolicking in the waters close to shore.
“Tourism is one of the key drivers of the iLembe local economy, as the industry supports in excess of 7 000 jobs. From January to June 2022 in terms of the economic impact, tourism contributed about R1.7 billion to the GDP of the iLembe region,” said Mncube.
“All establishments are open and ready to welcome visitors. The occupancy rate along the KZN North Coast is sitting at 70% so I encourage visitors to book in advance to avoid any disappointment,” he said.
Cheryl Peters, Tourism, marketing, investment and promotion manager at Enterprise iLembe said visitors can explore various adventure activities including microlight flights, horse riding, zip-lining, quad biking and so much more.
“There is also the Chief Albert Luthuli Museum and King Shaka visitors centre. Walk on a trail through the Harold Johnson Nature Reserve or visit historic battle sites such as the Ultimatum Tree, Ndondakusuka or Fort Pearson,” said Peters.
She also urged visitors to verify and check that establishments do exist prior to making payments for accommodation, especially when they come across deals online that look too good to be true.