Awards Categories

Visitor Experience

The Visitor Experience of the year Awards award all businesses that enable visitors to experience the diversity that is offered in South Africa

Tour Operators

The Tour Operator awards recognise and reward Tour Operators who not only allow tourists to experience the vast authentic experiences in South Africa, but also ensure that the right safety measurements are taken when transporting tourists.

Tour Operators are encouraged to enter these awards and showcase their offering.

Tour Guides

Tourist Guides Awards are awarded to registered Tourist Guides that have gone beyond the call of duty to make a tourist's experience worthwhile. The Tourist guide awarded is not only very knowledgeable of Durban and its offerings in their respective field, but is also professional and ensures that the tourist has a memorable experience in Durban.

MESE

Meetings, Exhibitions & Special Events
A venue providing world class service, specifically geared towards delivering impressive services and facilities to the MESE industry.

Accommodation

Accommodation Awards are designed to encourage and motivate you to offer the best service, facilities and product that you can. The Accommodation Category gives you an opportunity, and a brilliant opportunity at that, to celebrate excellence, creativity and innovation.

Upcoming Film-Makers Award

Recognizing upcoming, outstanding, unique, impactful people and organisations that have produced, script written and directed films in the past 5 years that have showcased Durban in their film as the destination of choice.

Entrants in this category must submit a sample of their work that is not more than two minutes. Content must showcase landmarks, key features, memorable statues, buildings and assets that are clearly identifiable as being located in Durban

Emerging Entrepreneurs

Emerging Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Recognizes black owned SMMEs who have achieved notable success since starting up). Only enterprises that have been operating for less than five years are eligible to enter this category.

Special Achievement Award

A prestigious award to recognize a tourism product and business that has done exceptionally well within the tourism space in various fronts of remaining ahead in their business. This will look at:

  • Consistent Business Retention and Business Expansion
  • Business Model and brand Sustainability
  • Consistent Job Creation
  • Remaining Competitive in offering and extent of putting Durban destination the tourism Competition edge
  • The extent of the radical economic transformation role played by the business.
  • The extent of business resilience under the Covid-19 circumstances.
  • The legacy mark by that tourism product/ business

Universally Accessible

This award is given to an establishment, property and/ or attraction that has been doing exemplary work towards the cause of accessibility and thus ensuring a life of equality and dignity for people with disabilities ensuring they also experience travel and do so comfortably.

Awards in this category are given to those who have taken up the cause of Accessibility and Universal Design in the areas of tourism.

Establishments that have implemented either/all of these within their organisations, which has led to them recruiting or serving people with disabilities and providing them equal opportunities to participate to the best of their abilities.