The founder and CEO of Durban’s largest private-owned and independently-run hotel group speaks about the chain’s growth, its latest R800m mixed-use development in Umhlanga Ridge, prospects for tourism in Surf City post the floods and riots, and why his company doesn’t plan to expand beyond KZN.
Welcome to the latest episode of The Property Pod, South Africa’s premier property investor podcast. It’s spring and that means it’s also Tourism Month in South Africa, so we are talking to hoteliers in the real estate sector this month.
Our first guest for Tourism Month on the podcast is Saantha Naidu, a property entrepreneur who has expanded into the hotels business. He’s the CEO of Durban-based private group Coastlands Hotels & Resorts, as well as a development company, the Saantha Naidu Group, or SNG.
We are talking tourism and hotel development. We also get his insights on the sector in Durban and KwaZulu-Natal. The region, which has historically had a strong domestic tourism industry, was hit by a triple whammy of Covid, the KZN riots in 2021 and the devasting floods last year. Is the outlook changing? Naidu shares his views.
Highlights of his interview appear below. You can also listen to the full podcast above or download it from iono, Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
MoneyWeb: By Suren Naidoo5 Sep 2023