It was announced today at the BRICS Summit, which is currently taking place in Durban, South Africa that KwaZulu-Natal Province (KZN) will play host to the 21st World Route Development Forum (World Routes).

The event will take place at ICC Durban from September 20th -22nd 2015.

This marks 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.

He continued: “I’d like to thank all the team in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal for all the hard work that’s been done throughout the host bidding process, you’ve done a fantastic job, and I know it’s going to be a great success.

“Congratulations, we look forward to working with you.”

International Airport into becoming an alternative aviation hub.