The World Travel Awards took place recently and three South African tourism establishments all won in their nominated categories.
SA establishments win at World Tourism Awards
The World Travel Awards were held at a glamourous event in Muscat, Oman on Friday, 11 November and some of the finest tourism establishments from around the world were celebrated.
South Africa itself scored more than 60 nominations in the Awards Grand Final, but only three establishments won in their categories, reports Business Insider.
One of these was Saxon Hotel Villas and Spa, which was voted World’s Leading Boutique Hotel 2022. This is also the second year in a row that the Johannesburg hotel has won in this category.
Another winner was Villa iZulu @ Thanda Safari KwaZulu-Natal, which won the World’s Leading Luxury Lodge category. Villa Isizulu is no stranger to wins at the World Travel Awards, winning ‘Leading Luxury Private Villa on the planet’ for four years in a row in 2021.
The third winner was Shambala Private Game Reserve, which took the top spot in the category of World’s Leading Private Game Reserve. This category also nominated two other South African game reserves, namely Shamwari and Londolozi, but Shambala took the prize.
Although Cape Town’s famous Table Mountain and the cable way were expected to do well in their nominated categories, they were beat out by Machu Picchu for the World’s Leading Tourism Attraction and Cable Car at Sun World Ba Na Hills in Vietnam for Leading Cable Car Ride.
Other winners
Some other big winners on the night were:
- Qatar Airways for Best Airline
- Dubai was voted the Leading Business Travel Destination
- Dubai International Airport won the Best Airport award
- Leading Hotel Brand was Marriot Hotels
- Madrid was voted the Leading Meetings and Conference Destination
ALSO READ: These two local spots were named SA’s ‘best hidden gems’
