With South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province making it into Conde Nast Traveler’s list of “The Best Places to Go in Africa in 2024,” the province has really made it onto the Big Time stage of world travel. The prestigious travel magazine chose the north of the province as one of only 11 places on the whole continent of Africa that it recommends as its top picks for next year.

All these accolades for KwaZulu-Natal came to my attention recently when I had the opportunity to meet with Philani Mavundla, mayor of Umvoti Local Municipality in Greytown, KwaZulu-Natal Read the rest of this entry »

The ancient Romans were known for many achievements—Roman numerals certainly come to mind—but did you know they were responsible for the creation of the tourist industry? They created the original Grand Tour, an itinerary from the lost city of Troy to the Acropolis, from the Colossus of Rhodes to Egypt, where the inaugural Nile cruise took them to the remotest parts of the empire.

Fast forward to the middle of the eighteenth century to the start of World War I, where we witness remarkable changes in leisure travel—the sheer volume of travelers, technology, choices of destinations, and even the opinions of what was considered worth seeing (TRAVEL SNOBBERY).