Mpumalanga tourism providers take centre stage at the Lilizela Tourism Provincial Awards

TThe Mpumalanga Province announced the names of the provincial winners of the 2017 Lilizela Tourism Awards. The announcement was made at an awards ceremony held on 8 September 2017 at Casambo Exclusive Guest Lodge where all the province’s finalists were publically honoured for their contribution to service excellence and quality assurance in the tourism industry.

Billed to recognise only the best in the South African tourism industry, the Lilizela Tourism Awards aim to recognise and reward the highest levels of excellence in tourism value chain. They are the ultimate reward for entrepreneurial and service excellence that sets global benchmark standards.

“We would like to congratulate all the Mpumalanga Provincial finalists and winners. Each year, we are encouraged by the quality of products and services that enter the Lilizela Tourism Awards. These awards are our way of recognising our dedicated travel industry for their hard work in setting the bar high and helping to make South Africa such a highly regarded must-visit destination, for local and international tourists alike. We would also like to thank all those tourism and hospitality businesses that took the time to enter the Lilizela Tourism Awards, and particularly to our provincial partners for ensuring that a cross-section of South Africa’s diverse experiences is represented,” says Minister of Tourism, Tokozile Xasa

The Lilizela Tourism Awards are an opportunity to celebrate professionalism, creativity and innovation in the industry. The provincial awards are being held in the month of September – which is also the time that South Africa and the tourism industry at large celebrate Tourism Month.

“We are delighted with the standard of entries and remain committed to growing the number of entries to ensure our province is well represented next year. This has been a long journey following a rigorous judging process leading to the announcement and we are proud to have come out with good quality products that represent Mpumalanga in the area of service excellence”, said Mr. Johannes Nobunga, CEO of MTPA.

“Mpumalanga received a total of 170 entries compared to 79 received in 2016. The ceremony tonight will see 96 finalists being awarded certificates, with 32 of them proceeding to represent Mpumalanga in the national awards ceremony to be held in Gauteng on 29 October 2016”, commented Nobunga.

“We wish to congratulate our provincial winners for their achievements and all their hard work as well as the effort they have put into positioning their products and especially the province. We believe that this achievement will enable others to learn from this outstanding work that is being delivered and further motivate others to participate” concluded Nobunga.

The Mpumalanga provincial winners as selected by independent judges are:

MESE AWARDS

VISITOR EXPERIENCE

EMERGING TOURISM ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR AWARD (ETEYA)

Name

Lowveld Extreme Adventures

The National Winners will be announced at the Sandton Convention Centre on 29th of October 2017. To view the full list of finalists and winners visit www.lilizela.co.za

ENDS

Issued by Mpumalanga Tourism & Parks Agency

Enquiries:

Mrs. Kholofelo Nkambule

Senior Manager: Communications & PR

Tel. +27 13 759 5550 | Cell. +27 82 451 2548

Email: kholofelo.nkambule@mtpa.co.za | www.mpumalanga.com