Eswatini supports regional tourism and leverages Triland ties at Travel Indaba 2026
Pic: Bathabile Nkambule, Marketing and Communications Manager for Eswatini Air
Speaking at the Indaba, Chunky Dlamini of the ETA(Eswatini Tourism Authority) said the focus was on promoting domestic and regional tourism at a time when global economic challenges and Middle East instability are disrupting fuel supplies and long-haul travel.
“It’s very important to market our country at a time when the international economy is going through some challenges,” Dlamini said. “We must find ways to promote inter-continental and regional tourism. We are here to build good working relations as African countries to ensure that our economies are strengthened. We are marketing each other,” said Dlamini.
Eswatini is a partner in the Triland agreement with Mpumalanga(South Africa) and Mozambique, a tri-country initiative designed to jointly market and promote cross-border tourism between the three neighbours. Dlamini noted that Eswatini has also signed MOUs(Memorandums of Understanding)with KwaZulu-Natal, Zambia and Zimbabwe to strengthen tourism ties.
The country’s efforts are backed by its own airline. Eswatini Air, launched three years ago, now flies to Durban, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Harare and Lusaka.
“We are happy that we have our own airline called Eswatini Air,” Dlamini said. “We launched new routes allowing us to fly to Mozambique, Cape Town, Durban, Harare, meaning that we are strengthening our tourism industry by allowing people to fly directly into our country.”
Bathabile Nkambule, Marketing and Communications Manager for Eswatini Air, the Indaba’s value lies in the quality of business connections rather than foot traffic.
“It’s not a consumer show where you have a lot of walk-ins and you are happy for the quantity, but the quality of leads that we know will materialise into something useful,” Nkambule said.
She said the airline works closely with the Eswatini Tourism Authority through joint marketing initiatives to bring visitors into the kingdom. While direct flights to Maputo aren’t yet feasible with the current aircraft, the airline is exploring other regional connections.
“The country that we work closely with, within the Triland, it’s South Africa. We are currently pursuing Mozambique but the kind of aircrafts that we have it would not be possible to fly to Maputo,” she explained.
Both Dlamini and Nkambule stressed that the Indaba reinforced a shift away from over-reliance on overseas tourists.
“The Africa’s Travel Indaba was a very important platform to emphasise that we don’t need to solely rely on international tourists,” Dlamini said.
With new routes, regional partnerships and a focus on African travellers, Eswatini is betting that closer-to-home tourism will drive growth across the Triland and beyond.
