The arriving delegates are the inheritors of an ancient local tradition. They gather at purpose-built venues in the city or beside the Indian Ocean or in the African bush. Although they bring with them all the paraphernalia of the modern world, essentially they are doing exactly what Zulu tribesmen have done for centuries — coming together to exchange news and to do business. The Zulus have a word for it: indaba.

The modern umbrella term is MICE — meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions — but the essence is the same: a convergence to a particular place at a particular time. And so they come from all over the world to Durban.

The city’s most important venue is the Durban International Convention Centre which, when built in 1994, was one of the first major projects of post-apartheid South Africa. The annual World Travel Awards regularly votes it Africa’s best conference center.

With total public space of 75,000 square feet and capacity for up to 10,000 people, the Durban ICC hosted many high-profile international events, including the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 1999, the International AIDS Conference of 2000 (returning to the venue in 2016) and the meeting of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2011. It also played host to meetings of the International Olympic Committee and the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA).

Durban ICC’s most significant annual event, the world’s third-biggest travel trade show, takes place each May. With thousands of exhibitors promoting tourism in southern Africa and beyond, the event celebrates the local heritage in its name: INDABA.

The Hilton Durban, a shiny high-rise right next to the venue, offers the most convenient accommodation for those attending events at the Durban ICC. Proximity is useful because downtown Durban can be dangerous. You should always use caution when walking in the city (keep your cellphone and other valuables safely out of sight); seek local advice about areas to avoid completely and don’t walk at night.

Durban ICC resides a few blocks from the Golden Mile, the city’s celebrated beachfront. Just two blocks from the littoral strip lies the Olive Convention Centre, a versatile venue with a main auditorium capable of seating 1,350 people, as well as several smaller rooms. The Olive’s exhibition hall also doubles as an ice rink, which inspires corporate events with a difference.

At the prime spot at the northern end of the Golden Mile, Suncoast, an Art Deco hotel, casino and entertainment complex, occupies private gardens with direct access to the beach. Suncoast’s conference center offers two multipurpose function rooms, one with seating for up to 175 people, the other accommodating 400.

At the opposite end of the Golden Mile, uShaka Marine World, a world-class aquarium and water park, offers teambuilding activities based around the waterslides and corporate functions in the underwater Cargo Hold Restaurant with huge windows looking into the shark tank.

Right on the Golden Mile, with ocean views from all 734 guestrooms, the Southern Sun Elangeni & Maharani Hotel houses a flexible range of conference facilities which can be configured to seat from 12 to 500 delegates. The 150-capacity Sky Venue, on the 31st floor of the hotel’s Maharani Tower, offers spectacular views, especially at sunset.

The steady growth of Duban’s MICE sector created benefits across the board for the region’s tourism. It is estimated up to 40 percent of MICE delegates either combine their working visit with leisure tourism or return to South Africa on private vacations at a later date.

A little up the coast from Durban, the resort town of Umhlanga (pronounced Um-thlanga) now taps into the MICE market, with many of its luxury beachside hotels offering a range of corporate facilities.

The Oyster Box Hotel © The Oyster Box Hotel

Umhlanga’s grande dame hotel, The Oyster Box, has presided over a prominent stretch of coastline adjacent to an old-fashioned lighthouse since 1954. The hotel’s classic charm, updated to the 21st century, makes it one of South Africa’s most stylish conference venues, with capacity for up to 150 delegates (though because the hotel only has 86 guestrooms and chalets, it cannot accommodate all of the delegates overnight).

Next door to The Oyster Box, you can’t miss the pink 89-room Beverly Hills Hotel with facilities for conferences of up to 60 people. The property plans for a major expansion of the hotel and its facilities within the next few years.

A short distance inland from Umhlanga, set amid rolling sugarcane plantations, lies the strikingly designed Sibaya Casino and Entertainment Kingdom, inspired by traditional Zulu huts. Sibaya’s flagship venue, the Imbizo Conference Centre, holds up to 800 people. In addition, the resort boasts a 575-seat theater, smaller meeting rooms and an outdoor boma (the Zulu version of a stockade), which accommodates up to 250.

The hinterland of Kwazulu-Natal is easily accessible from Durban and Umhlanga, and an increasing number of properties there cater to MICE tourism. Take your pick for backdrop: African wildlife, historic battlefields or rugged mountains.

Duma Manzi Eco Lodge, a 75-minute drive from Durban, sits within its own 12,355-acre, malaria-free nature reserve. Resident species include leopard, buffalo, giraffe and zebra. Conference packages for groups of five to 18 people can include teambuilding activities such as mountain biking and archery.

Fugitives’ Drift Lodge, located close to the famous battlefields of Rorke’s Drift and Isandlwana (featured in the movies Zulu and Zulu Dawn), offers its Harfield Library as an inspirational venue for meetings and corporate think-tanks, with capacity for up to 34 guests.

Although the battlefields stand in a breathtakingly scenic area, the producers of the movie Zulu chose an even more dramatic setting: the Drakensberg. This ancient mountain range, about two and a half hours’ drive from Durban, provides respite from the heat of the coast and serves as a perfect retreat for conferences and meetings.

The Drakensberg’s colonial-style Cathedral Peak Hotel has been one of South Africa’s top hotels since it opened in 1939. The five conference rooms seat up to 200 guests. Recreational activities include golf on the adjacent nine-hole course, horse trekking, hiking and climbing.