A new tourism strategy to make the Durban Metropolitan Area (DMA) a "must see" destination in Africa.

Abstract

This tourism strategy provides an overview of the DMA tourism product, an

analysis of the strategic influences affecting the region and recommendations

to achieve our vision 2010, of making the DMA a "must-see" destination in

Africa. It provides a cohesive framework for the development of tourism in the

region, bringing together key players including local tourism agencies, the city

council, hotels, visitor attractions, retailers and transport providers. The

regions strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats were evaluated and

this led to identification of the key issues that will affect the future success of

tourism in the DMA. The impact of tourism is much wider than the purely

economic. Tourism initiatives also support local businesses, culture and craft.

The need to maintain attractive, high quality visitor destinations has meant

that tourism contributes to the protection and upkeep of the regions built and

natural environments. There are a number of key issues and challenges that

face the tourism sector of the DMA. These were addressed with

recommendations in order to achieve our Vision 2010:

• Market segmentation

• Image-and branding

• Developing market intelligence

• Communication and information technology

• Partnership and co-ordination

• Competing through quality

• Business support

• Development of "Must-Sees"

• Major sporting events

• Monitoring and Evaluation

An aggressive competitive strategy to outsmart our competitors and make the

DMA a "must-see" destination in Africa has been clearly outlined. There is a

need for strategic leadership to bring all the relevant parties together to drive

the strategy to success. The DMA is on the threshold of becoming one of the

major tourism destinations in the world and it is up to every resident in our

region to make this dream come true.