Readers of the US Travel & Leisure magazine have voted the Londolozi game reserve in the Sabi Sands Reserve as the top hotel in Africa and the Middle East and top small hotel in the world.
Londolozi came second with a score of 91,61% in the top 100 hotels in the world category after The Peninsula in Bangkok.
Several other South African properties were also declared winners. The Cape Grace in Cape Town was ranked 29th in the top 100 hotels, scoring 86,39%, while Mala Mala Game Reserve came in at number 37, with a score of 85,84%.
The same resorts ranked highly in the top 15 small hotels category, as well as in the Top 15 African and middle east hotels category.
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 having been voted fifth in the top 10 cities in the world, and Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve in Cederberg voted one of the top 25 eco lodges in the world.
CEO of South African Tourism Cheryl Carolus expressed her delight at the news that so many world-class South African tourism products were recognised.
“These awards are 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. This achievement further enhances the enviable reputation that South Africa is gaining as a preferred tourist destination,” Carolus said.
The awards are the latest in a series that have boosted South Africa’s reputation as a tourist destination, as the number of overseas visitors entering South Africa during the first quarter 2003 rose by 10,9% y/y to 528 017.
This followed double digit growth last year, when tourists from Europe increased by 24,2%, from Asia by 20,7% and by 14,5% from Australasia. Even tourist numbers from North America rose by 9,2%, despite an overall general reluctance of its citizens to travel long haul. – I-Net Bridge