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9 May 2009
City of Choice and choices at 2008 ETEYA Awards
Brenda Roopai, 2008 ETEYA Award winner
© South African Tourism
The much-anticipated hosting of the Emerging Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year Award in South Africa - the first time since it launched 8 years ago - has seen Brenda Roopai walk away with the honours.
The owner of City of Choice Travel & Tours in Escombe, KwaZulu-Natal, Brenda specializes in wellness, authentic cultural experiences and giving the leisure and wellness, corporate, conference and incentive travel markets ‘priceless exclusivity'.
What started as a hobby for Brenda in 2006, led to another earlier victory as the winner of South Africa's biggest business plan competition, the FNB ENABLIS, merely a year after.
Brenda is a shining example of innovation and service excellence, qualities rewarded by ETEYA sponsors South African Tourism, Tourism Enterprise Partnership and South African Breweries. The R100,000 prize and market exposure will go far to empower this dynamo to grow her business exponentially.
Runners-up are Tebogo Mametja of River Lodge, Hoedspruit; Johannes Kaledi of Loving & Blessing Guest Lodge, Rustenburg and Maria Nyawula of Victoria Manor guesthouse in Queenstown.
In addition, a new award was introduced this year, the South African Tourism Ambassador Award. It was felt that the spirit of a true South African shone so brightly in all the finalists, and especially Meshack Nkadimang of Hotel Kgalagadi in the Northern Cape village of Batlharos, that it merited an award on its own.