The best place to meet

overlooks the Indian Ocean and is the perfect place for sun lovers across all seasons.

The estate also includes Zimbali Lodge, which caters for conferences of up to 90 delegates and has 18 hotel suites and 35 self-catering vacation ownership units, as well as the Zimbali Country Club, which boasts an 18-hole Tom Weiskopf-designed golf course and a luxury contemporary clubhouse suited to hosting social events.

An exciting new Durban offering is the Radisson Blu Hotel in Umhlanga, which is the first phase of a R4.5 billion Oceans Umhlanga mega development. The hotel is the first internationally branded five-star hotel to open in Durban since the Hilton Hotel in 1997, and features 206 luxury hotel rooms and 95 stylish suites, a 36 000 m² mall, and approximately 500 apartments.

It also offers eight state-of-the-art meeting facilities, with the ballroom accommodating 600 delegates in cinema style.

It would be remiss not to mention one of the most celebrated hotels in South Africa – The Oyster Box. This five-star luxury establishment on Umhlanga’s beachfront is known for its charm and nostalgia of a bygone era while offering all the comfort and amenities modern guests expect. It’s a great location for memorable events and has 86 rooms and suites, as well as a tantalising collection of dining experiences.

Unique experiences

Alongside the city’s extensive venue and accommodation offerings, the fact is that many business tourists and visitors will want to spend a fair amount of time outside the exhibition halls and meeting rooms, exploring their surrounds. With an endless list of amazing sites to see around Durban, below, we choose to rather focus on two endeavours that offer unique experiences while also making a difference.

WOWZULU Marketplaces

Durban delegates can visit one of five contemporary and colourful WOWZULU Marketplaces located at Inanda Durban, eMazizini, Khula Village, KwaNzimakwe and Ilembe.

The marketplaces started out as a space for rural craft organisations to sell their beautiful handmade products, under the Africa! Ignite programme. Most of the crafters are women who come from areas with poor infrastructure, high unemployment and a high incidence of HIV/Aids, so this opportunity provides them with a much-needed source of income.

However, the WOWZULU Marketplaces have evolved into something much bigger, and now combine craft sales with vibrant cultural experiences and attractions such as traditional culinary experiences, storytelling, rural home stays, and opportunities to learn timehonoured craft techniques while creating special keepsakes.

Africa! Ignite is a leading South African non-profit rural enterprise development agency that has worked across rural KwaZulu-Natal for more than a decade. In 2019, it launched its WOWBiz social franchises. The WOWBiz centres offer critical support for emerging businesses through services such as business registration compliance and planning, printing, marketing, branding, social media and mentorship – thus expanding on the entrepreneurial support they are providing to these communities.

eNanda Adventures

In the heart of the vast and stunningly beautiful Inanda Valley, adventure awaits. Situated right on Durban’s doorstep, eNanda Adventures describes itself as “a hidden gem with everything you need to revitalise and break free from the hustle and bustle of city life”.

Visitors can go on a guided hike to the majestic Mzinyathi Falls and discover Inanda’s cultural treasures etched into the landscape along the way. The Inanda Dam offers an array of activities from canoeing to fishing to waterskiing while spotting the vibrant birdlife found in the area. eNanda Adventures is also home to one of the GO!Durban Cycle Academy’s tracks with mountain bike cycling trails available for cycling enthusiasts.

Bookings for eNanda Adventures can be done through the Durban Green Corridor, a social-purpose and impact-focused organisation that aims to see communities thrive in balance with the habitats around them. Green Corridors explains, “We cocreate open spaces in key local destinations that balance environmental ‘musts’ with the challenges and opportunities of the communities that live, work and thrive within them.”