The Mpumalanga tourism industry gathered at the Orange Restaurant on 26 August 2013 to celebrate the inaugural provincial Lilizela Tourism Awards.
The awards were aimed at honouring and celebrating those who made a remarkable impact in the tourism industry, and to recognise the people who deliver excellence in tourism.
They were also meant to encourage key players and establishments to strive for excellence in order to contribute towards South Africa’s global competitiveness, motivate the tourism industry to keep striving for excellence and give the public a voice that counts.
During the award ceremony, MEC Phosa indicated that the continent is fast becoming a tourist destination of choice and for Africa to be able to compete with the rest of the world, it must provide excellence.
“It was the turn of Mpumalanga to award tourism establishments that excel in the province. South Africa is one of the fastest growing tourism destinations in the world, therefore, in order for us to maintain and grow our global competitiveness, we need to provide excellence, brilliance and innovation in this regard,” said the MEC.
“We believe that the awards will inspire all tourism stakeholders to perform even much better,” added the MEC. The MEC further pledged the support of the Mpumalanga Province to the Lilizela Awards and congratulated Minister Martinus van Schalkwyk for the initiative.
The chairperson of the Lilizela Awards, Ms Thembi Kunene, congratulated the province for the successful hosting of the event, albeit with the lowest number of entrants. She further gave advice to the province on ways to improve and involve all tourism stakeholders.
“Mpumalanga is one of the country’s biggest tourist destinations, therefore it must be challenging to award top honours at this awards. We hope to see an improvement at next year’s awards,” said Ms Kunene.
The CEO of the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA), Mr Jacques Modipane, encouraged the people of the province and all stakeholders to learn to appreciate the tourism sector of the province, as does the rest of the world.
“We forget how fortunate we are to be living in this magnificent province, people come from all corners of the world to appreciate this beauty, yet we, the residents of the province, tend to ignore it. Let us all learn to appreciate our province and what it has to offer,” said Mr Modipane.
Representatives from the various nominated establishments were present to accept the awards given on the day.
Bed & Breakfast category:
- Country Lane Lodge and Dreamfields Guesthouse won in the Bed & Breakfast category.
- Walkersons Country Manor and Highgrove House won the Country House category.
- The Guest House award went to Selati 103 Guest Cottages, Longtom Farm Guesthouse and Matume Golf Estate.
Lodge category:
- The Nelspruit Town Lodge won the hotel category.
- Umlani Bushcamp, Sabie River Bush Lodge, Bundu Lodge and Black Leopard Camp scooped the Lodge category awards.
- The Self-Catering awards went to Forever Resorts Blyde Canyon and Kruger Lodge.
