SA hotspots among World's Best
18 July 2003
A number of South Africa's tourist destinations received top honours in this year’s US Travel + Leisure magazine’s prestigious "The World’s Best" Awards - including the best small hotel in the world, seven hotels in the world top 100, one of the top 25 eco lodges, and the fifth highest rated city in the world.
The seventh annual awards are featured in the magazine’s August issue, where results represent best hotels, cities, islands, tour operators, airlines, car rental agencies, cruise lines and spas, as selected by the magazine’s readers.
The Londolozi Private Game Reserve in the Sabi Sands Reserve in Mpumalanga achieved top honours, being voted the top hotel in Africa and the Middle East and top small hotel in the world.
The reserve, which has already won several international awards, is a luxurious safari destination covering 14 000 hectares in the heart of game-rich Sabi Sand Game Reserve.
The prime wildlife haven also came second
with a score of 91.61 percent in the top 100 hotels in the world category, after The Peninsula in Bangkok.
The Cape Grace in Cape Town was ranked 29th in the top 100 hotels category, while the Mala Mala Game Reserve in Mpumalanga clinched the 37th spot. Mala Mala combines unpretentious comfort with unparalled game viewing, including the Big Five in the finest "envirotel" on the African continent.
Other South African winners were the Table Bay Hotel and the Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town, the Palace of the Lost City at Sun City and The Grace in Rosebank, Johannesburg.
The Western Cape took home additional honours, with Cape Town being voted fifth in the top 10 cities in the world category, and Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve in the Cedarberg being voted one of the top 25 eco lodges in the world.
South African Tourism CEO Cheryl Carolus said the awards confirmed South Africa’s status as one of the prime tourist destinations in the world.
"These
awards are a well deserved recognition of the immense commitment made by all the winners to South Africa's tourism industry, and clearly indicate the wealth of quality, value-for-money experiences that we as a country can offer visitors", Carolus said.
She said the awards further enhanced the enviable reputation that South Africa is gaining as a preferred tourist destination.
Source: BuaNews
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