KWAZULU-NATAL Province (KZN) will play host to the 21st World Route Development Forum (World Routes) at ICC Durban from September 20-22, 2015, marking the first time in its history that the event has been held in Africa.
World Routes is the global meeting place for every airline, airport, tourism board and government stakeholder and attracts attendees from over 110 countries.
The event is focused around the development of the world’s air services and hosting World Routes provides a unique opportunity for a destination to showcase its airport, its city and its country to the air service decision-makers of the world.
The announcement of Durban, KZN as the Host for World Routes 2015 represents the culmination of a successful bid to host the event driven by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development and Tourism in which all of the region’s key stakeholders were involved in supporting the proposal.
These stakeholders included; Tourism KwaZulu-Natal; Trade & Investment KwaZulu-Natal; Airports Company South Africa; King Shaka International Airport; Dube TradePort Corporation; South Africa National Convention Bureau; Durban KwaZulu-Natal Convention Bureau and South African Airways.
“I’m delighted that World Routes will be taking place in Africa in 2015 and it is fitting, with such a focus on the development of international trade, that we are bringing it to Durban and the region of KwaZulu-Natal,” said David Stroud, executive vice president, Routes UBM Live.
Commenting on the successful bid, the Provincial Minister for Economic Development and Tourism,. Michael Mabuyakhulu said: “World Routes 2015 will position our flagship development, southern Africa’s premier air logistics platform and the home of the continent’s first purpose built aerotropolis, the Dube Trade Port, which incorporates the King Shaka International Airport for a major growth in air services.
“The KwaZulu-Natal province has participated in past World Routes events and based on our analysis we have seen how air services have improved in airports that have hosted these events,” he said.
KwaZulu-Natal Province is the country’s most popular domestic leisure tourism destination and is home to Africa’s busiest sea-ports, Durban. King Shaka International Airport is a multi-billion Rand international airport which opened in May 2010 ahead of the FIFA World Cup Championships.
The airport, along with its adjacent trade port “Dube TradePort” provides world-class facilities for intercontinental passenger travel and freight transfer. The city of Durban and KwaZulu-Natal Province have embarked upon a development strategy to grow the regional tourism economy and to increase the number of international tourists to KZN by 2030.
The plan is to grow passenger and cargo airlift out of King Shaka International Airport and hosting World Routes 2015 will assist in improving the air services potential of the airport, coupled with the trade gateway operations of the two sea ports. In addition, bringing the event to the growing aviation market of Africa, which also has significant potential, will be of huge benefit to the region.