Lilizela Provincial Awards off to a great start with Women leading the charge in the Northern Cape

SSOUTH AFRICA, JOHANNESBURG, Monday, 09 September 2019: The Lilizela Tourism Awards provincial awards kicked-off in fine style in Kimberley with the Northern Cape ceremony on Thursday 5^th September, followed by the Mpumalanga ceremony on the 6^th of September. The awards recognised the best of the best in the tourism and hospitality industry. The provincial awards form part of the preliminary events leading up to the National Lilizela Tourism Awards on 9^th November, being held at the Sun Arena in Pretoria.

Of the 11 winners on the night in the Northern Cape, seven of them were women, a great achievement and testament to the growing efforts of the South African tourism industry to be more inclusive and have women in leadership.

One of these women was Mpho Cornelius, the founder and director of The Workshop ko Kasi. Her establishment won both the Culture & Lifestyle and Roots & Culture awards. In 2017, Cornelius was the recipient of the Lilizela Emerging Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year award.

Speaking at the event, MEC of Economic Development and tourism Maruping Lekwene said, “Through their hard work, determination and courage, the industry players continue to put our province on the domestic and international tourism radar and they have become strategic players who are contributing towards putting our province as a destination of choice. It is on that basis that the recipients of these awards as well as other stakeholders in the tourism business, who have entered the Lilizela competition today, should be seen as true Tourism Ambassadors of our beautiful province.”

The Mpumalanga event, held at the three-star Ingwenyama Conference and Sport Resort on Friday 6^th September, the big winners on the night included Forever Resorts, with four awards, and Jackalberry Ridge - which took two awards for the Caravan & Camping and Self-catering Shared Vacation categories.  

MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Mr Pat Ngomane, drove home the importance of tourism in the current international economic climate, saying, “I continue to argue that tourism is our new gold mine in the province – it is the goose that lays the golden eggs – and if we nurture it properly, by always striving for excellence in all we do, it will indeed continue to create the much-needed jobs for our people.” 

Images from both nights can be found here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/south-african-tourism/

Complete List of Winners:

For media enquiries, please contact:

Altaaf Kazi at South African Tourism     

Tel: +27 11 895-3046    

Email: altaaf@southafrica.net OR mediaq@southafrica.net

Website: www.southafrica.net

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About South African Tourism

South African Tourism is the national tourism agency responsible for the marketing of South Africa as a preferred tourist destination. It is headed up by Acting Chief Executive Officer Ms Sthembiso Dlamini.