Welcome Awards winners exceed service expectations

The Welcome Awards put the spotlight on service excellence once a year to reward those providers who consistently provide outstanding service.

South African Tourism CEO Thandiwe January-McLean

© South African Tourism

     We want visitors to remember us as a warm hospitable nation so that they go home ambassadors for South Africa. - Pieter de Bruin, FNB "

Nine tourism product/service providers walked away with the highest service accolade in tourism at the annual Welcome Awards at INDABA.

The winners were praised for raising the bar of service delivery, providing visitors with excellent service to entice them to come back and visit. Their products and services were innovative, met and went beyond visitors expectations and inculcated a culture of a great hosting nation.

In the 9 categories the winners are:  Cape Grace (accommodation); Edge of Africa (tour operators); Vergelegen Wines (tourist attractions); School of Tourism & Hospitality (restaurants); Kapama Private Game Reserve (parks); Flight Centre Gateway (travel agencies); South African Reserve Bank Conference Centre (MESE/MICE); Collen Sibuyi (tourist guides) and City Lodge Hotels (online/best website).

The sub-category winners are: Quarters Brasserie (fine dining); School of Tourism & Hospitality (casual dining); Collen Sibuyi (tourist guides - regional or site); Sydney Mikosi (tourist guides - provincial); Greg Lederle (tourist guides - national); Welcome Tourism Services (tour operators - more than 5 years experience); Edge of Africa (tour operators - less than 5 years experience); Mashovela Lodge (accommodation - lodges); The Backpack (accommodation - backpackers/hostels/camp sites); The Lofts (accommodation - bed & breakfast/guest houses/guest lodges); Cabana Beach Lifestyle Resort (accommodation - self-catering); Cape Grace (accommodation - hotels).

Said Pieter de Bruin, head of First National Bank's Tourism Division, who also sponsored this event, ‘it is of vital importance that the industry strives for service excellence to ignite and encapsulate a welcoming spirit with only a month to go to the World Cup'.

Excellent service is fundamental to the visitor experience. The winners of the Welcome Awards have recognised and in turn been rewarded for delivering on this promise.

Nominations for tourism providers who have delivered great service will open as of July 2010 for the 2011 Welcome Awards.

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Award Winners. I have looked at the profiles of the previous winners and I now have been shortlisted. I hope I can follow in their footsteps. Execellent service is fundamental to the visitors experience and I will continue to achieve this anyway possible as I have . .more done in the past 30 years of devotion........... . .less by Carmen Michelle Sonnenberg on April 13 2011, 15:14 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

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