Port of Durban will soon begin construction of the boulevard connecting the planned Durban Cruise Terminal with the newly-launched Beachfront Promenade.

Last week, MSC Cruises local joint venture partner the KwaZulu Cruise Terminal (KCT) consortium, broke ground on the new Durban Cruise Terminal, which is due to be completed by 2021. The new cruise terminal will cost R200-million, but bring enormous benefits to the city as a cruise destination.

The Durban Cruise Terminal will be connected to the new Durban promenade with its own walkway

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Moshe Motlohi, General Manager, Port of Durban said the new terminal development dovetails with the City of Durban’s new beachfront promenade extension from uShaka beach southwards to the harbour entrance, as well as the future development of Durban Point Waterfront.

“This is going to change the face of Durban,” said Motlohi. “The cruise industry is the fastest growing category in the leisure travel market, and TNPA’s decision to build a dedicated cruise terminal in the port is well supported.”

The R1.3-billion redevelopment will include a new beachfront boulevard, hotels, and the new Durban Cruise Terminal

Motlohi added that Transnet plans to commence construction on its own section of the promenade in the third quarter of 2020 to connect the Durban Cruise Terminal with the new promenade extension, giving cruise passengers easy access to the redeveloped Point Waterfront.

The new beachfront promenade meanwhile, has been made ready ahead of the 2019/2020 South African cruise season out of Durban, with Transnet undertaking dredging works to restore parts of the beach that were eroded by the development.

TNPA has had its dredging vessel hard at work pumping sand along the new portion of the city’s Golden Mile which is expected to attracts tourists in their thousands, Motlohi said.

Sand collected by the dredger during TNPA’s usual harbour dredging operations is being discharged onto the new beach area from uShaka beach southwards towards the harbour entrance.

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These announcements and developments come amid rampant growth in the South African cruise market.

During the 2019/20 cruise season, which runs from October 2019 until late April 2020, at least 23 luxury cruise ships operated by 17 global cruise lines are scheduled to call at the country’s six cruise ports.

At least 17 of those cruise ships will be calling in Durban, while one of them, MSC Orchestra, will be homeporting in the city, cruising roundtrip up the coast of SA and Mozambique.

Durban cruise passenger traffic has grown by 29.4% from 197,382 during the 2017/18 cruise season to 255,422 during the 2018/19 cruise season.

Durban has also held the title of Africa’s Leading Cruise Port for three consecutive years in the World Travel Awards for Africa and the Indian Ocean.