Zimbabwe nominated for two World Travel awards

Zimbabwe is in the running for two awards at the 2010 World Travel Awards after the country was last week nominated in two categories, raising hopes that the country is slowly turning the corner just in time for the Soccer World Cup set for June.

The country’s prime tourist resort, Victoria Falls, was nominated for Africa’s Leading Destination while African Impact received its second successive nomination, after failing to get the award last year, for Africa’s Leading Conservation Company.

Victoria Falls, which is leading in the country’s turnaround efforts to put back the tourism industry back at the top, and is known around the world as Africa’s Adventure Capital, is facing competition from, among others, Serengeti, Cape Town and Mount Kilimanjaro.

African Impact is a family-run organisation that has been built with passion and pride.

Since its humble beginnings at Antelope Park Lion Rehabilitation Project in Gweru in 2004, Andrew and Wendy Conolly, along with a dedicated team of managers, office and field staff, have built African Impact into Africa’s leading voluntarism organisation.

"We are the largest on-the-ground facilitator of responsible volunteer projects throughout Africa in South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Madagascar, Malawi and Ghana," reads their website.

Referred to as "Travel Industry’s equivalent to Oscars", WTA was established in 1993 by founder and president Mr Graham E. Cooke to acknowledge and celebrate excellence in all sectors of the industry. WTA is recognised and respected worldwide as the definitive hallmark of excellence.

In 2007, the awards expanded from one event annually to regional ceremonies for each continent, culminating in a grand finale.

The African leg of the awards will be held at INDABA, South Africa’s premier travel and tourism exposition held in the port city of Durban in May, while the final is set for London’s World Travel Market in November.

Over 5 000 organisations spanning 162 countries have been nominated by industry peers for a chance to win the most coveted prize in travel and tourism. Nominees range from destinations, tourist boards and airlines to luxury hotels, travel technology providers and adventure tour operators.

Online voting was opened last week, and provides both the trade and the consumer an opportunity to support their favourite brands in the bid for travel glory.

WTA has also unveiled a series of enhancements to mark the first Grand Tour of a new decade.

Technology is top of the agenda with a host of new categories, ranging from "Leading New Hotel Website" to "Leading Dynamic Packaging Product".

The awards programme, which serves to encourage best practices within the industry, is also honouring its commitment to sustainable tourism.

A number of new green categories — spanning cruise, destinations, hotels and tour operators — aims to reward those brands striving for innovative and responsible solutions to the environmental crisis.

Mr Cooke said: "We have been overwhelmed with the tremendous response to self-nominations, which have grown a phenomenal 50 percent in 2009.

"This increase, in the face of a global recession, demonstrates the vital role that World Travel Awards now plays within the travel industry. More multinational companies than ever, ranging from Etihad Airways and TAP Portugal to InterContinental Hotels, Universal Studios and Disney, are spearheading their global marketing campaigns with their award victories," he added.

This level of accountability has led to WTA becoming the "Oscars" of the global travel industry, broadcast by BBC World News and other networks to over 254 million households worldwide and attended by the industry’s key decision makers.

"As the tension surrounding the awards begins to mount, we are looking forward to revealing the leading players at the regional ceremonies during the year, and tracking their progress as they head to London for our Grand Final on the eve of World Travel Market 2010," said Mr Cooke.

By Costa Mano.