Durban — The Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre (Durban ICC) has revealed that it is a frontrunner for Africa’s leading convention centre in the World Travel Awards, known as the “Oscars of the travel industry”.
The Durban ICC recently hosted two successful major events, Africa’s Travel Indaba and the Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour.
The Durban ICC is in pole position to clinch the crown as Africa’s Leading Meetings & Conference Destination.
The nomination process has opened for the 29th World Travel Awards™ (WTA) which rewards and celebrates excellence across all key sectors of the travel, tourism and hospitality industries.
The WTA brand - also known as the “Oscars of the travel industry” - is recognised globally as the ultimate hallmark of industry excellence.
Voting has opened in various categories for the African region. Winners in the regions (Europe, Asia, Oceania, Middle East, South America, Central America, North America, Africa, Indian Ocean & Caribbean) will go head-to-head for the world awards.
The Durban ICC said travel industry professionals, the media and consumers are invited to cast their votes for travel brands - such as Durban ICC - that they consider to be the very best in Africa. The nominee gaining the most votes in a category will be named the winner.
The Durban ICC has been nominated as Africa's Leading Meetings and Conference Destination 20 times and has been voted the winner in this category no fewer than 17 times. The state-of-the-art venue has also been nominated as the World's Leading Meetings & Conference Destination for the past 10 years.
Durban ICC chief executive Lindiwe Rakharebe said the convention centre would be going all out to bring the trophy home, yet again.
“Despite the lockdown forcing the Durban ICC to mothball itself, when restrictions were eased, we worked diligently to reduce the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and maintain business continuity as far as was possible under the dire circumstances,” Rakharebe said.
“We have just completed two major back-to-back events which tested all our systems and the verdict is that the Durban ICC is ticking over like a well-oiled machine.”
Rakharebe said the Durban ICC met all its performance targets and exceeded targets in many instances.
“Competing and winning - be it for events or awards – is in the DNA of the Durban ICC. We are thrilled to have been nominated in the Africa round and hope to also vie for the global award as it will raise Durban’s destination profile for business tourism and will help the Durban ICC to attract more international events to the city,” Rakharebe said.
She said that would create more jobs and generate a positive economic impact for KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa.
“Winning awards is a visible demonstration of all the behind-the-scenes hard work from the Durban ICC teams and people whose principal focus is to continuously provide world-class customer service to clients, both local and international.”
“It is for this reason that the close-knit team strives to maintain the Durban ICC strong inherent culture of warmth and hospitality that we are known for and strives to ensure that each guest leaves the Durban ICC happy and satisfied with the service received,” said Rakharebe.
Cast your vote now for the Durban ICC by clicking on this link: https://bit.ly/39bnkbS and help raise the international profile of the city’s world-class conference and event destination.
Daily News