BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE– Tourism KwaZulu-Natal (TKZN) will be among the thousands of enthusiastic travelers heading to Eswatini’s magnificent Malkerns Valley for its legendary Bushfire Festival this weekend.
This was revealed by the Chief Executive Officer of TKZN Nhlanhla Khumalo in a statement sent out to all members of the media.
He said in addition to enjoying the region’s diverse music, culture, crafts and art installations that attract travelers from over 60 different countries to one of the largest cultural events in the kingdom, TKZN will be exhibiting the province’s attractions at the event, to attract more regional (SADC) and international visitors to Eswatini’s neighboring KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).
“The warm welcome of the KZN coastline will be a wonderful contrast to the cold weather of the Malkerns Valley. Here visitors can relax in the warm winter sunshine, and enjoy some of the most beautiful beaches and wildlife that the KZN region has to offer.
“We are showing off the beauty of our province in the spirit of collaboration as discussed during the Africa Travel Indaba and hope that our countries can work together to not only ensure that visitors to the region can enjoy what our different cultures have to offer but also show residents in SADC countries that a truly unique tourism experience is close at hand,” said Khumalo
He also noted the distance between the Malkerns Valley and KZN’s closest border post at Pongola, he said it was just over four hours by road.
“The good news is that Eswatini Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Eswatini, launched a new direct route between King Mswati III International Airport in Manzini, Eswatini, and King Shaka International Airport in Durban in May this year,” he said.
“This new route will significantly boost the regional tourism market, with Eswatini being one of our key regional tourism markets and having strong historical and cultural ties with our province. Initially, there will be three flights per week on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays but there are already plans to increase the frequency of flights in line with demand. That is why we are working hard to grow tourism linkages between Eswatini and KZN,” he explained.
Worth noting is that in 2022, Eswatini was second to only Zimbabwe as the source of the most travel arrivals in South Africa, with about 138 000 people visiting.
During 2019, before Covid-19 travel restrictions closed borders, nearly 300 000 travelers visited South Africa from Eswatini, of which 11.8 per cent were tourism arrivals and more than 75 per cent visiting friends and relatives.
Meanwhile, for those arriving by road, the immediate tourist attractions are the Pongola Game Reserve which is home to four of the Big Five as well as hippos and crocodiles and is a birding hotspot and Lake Jozini, a popular tiger fishing destination and home to the Shayamanzi houseboats.
