Durban bags EIGHT World Travel Awards nominations!
If you love this city as much as we do, VOTE NOW!
The World Travel Awards could be considered the Oscars of the tourism industry.
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Sadly, the start of the pandemic meant the end of travel and tourism as we know it.
Although South Africans once again have the freedom to go anywhere they please within the country's borders, and can even head out to some other countries, we are all still very aware of the fact that the tourism, hospitality, and travel industries have taken and continue to take a hard knock.
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Many companies, businesses, and organisations are still struggling.
That’s why these eight nominations, and possible wins, could mean so much for our local industry.
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The World Travel Awards (hyperlink) was established in 1993 and since then, they have rewarded and celebrated excellence across the various travel, hospitality, and tourism sectors.
The awards are internationally recognised and are celebrating their 28th anniversary this year.
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South Africa is once again a favourite contender amongst the nominations and while we would love to support the other fantastic locations in our country, we need to highlight the incredible achievements of Durban.
This could be our day in the sun! And everyone knows Durban is known for its wonderful sunshine.
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Durban has previously been named Africa's leading city destination and the continent's leading meetings and conference destination.
Just last year, it also walked away with the World Travel Awards for Africa’s leading hotel brand and South Africa’s leading business hotel thanks to The Hilton Hotels and Resorts group. The Oyster Box hotel went on to win the award for South Africa’s leading hotel.
Eight of Durban’s top travel and tourism establishments are shining bright with four of those being direct nominations.
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The nominations are:
- Africa's Leading Business Travel Destination 2021
- Africa's Leading City Destination 2021
- Africa's Leading Festival and Event Destination 2021
- Africa's Leading Meetings and Conferences Destination 2021.
- Africa's Leading Airport - King Shaka International Airport
6. Africa's Leading Cruise Port - Port of Durban
7. Africa’s Leading Conference Hotel - Southern Sun’s Elangeni and Maharani Hotel Conference
8. Africa's Leading Meetings and Conference Centre 2021 - Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre
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These nominations could be a vital boost to the city and are exactly what we need during these tough times.
As the world is trying to navigate its way out of this pandemic, these awards might seem like they are redundant and unneeded, but they could help those involved get through these economic challenges they face.
These nominations are testament to the hard work that we have put in, to market the city to the rest of the world by highlighting the high standards that we, and our establishments, strive to achieve. We call on all residents to rally behind the city by casting their vote in order to bring these awards home.
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If this does not convince you to make your vote count then we don’t know what will!
Voting has officially opened and you have until the 9th of August to cast your vote.
If you have been wondering how you can help struggling businesses during this time and you don’t really know what you can do to help, this is your chance.
All you have to do is head on over to a website to vote. You don’t get any simpler than that.
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Main image courtesy of iStock