SOUTH AFRICA TOPS READERS CHOICE AWARDS AT LEADING US TRAVEL MAGAZINES

The US travel industry is giving South African Tourism a major vote of confidence with a series of prestigious awards from leading travel publications, representing both trade and consumer audiences, in business and leisure tourism. 

Readers of Conde Nast Traveler, the high-end consumer magazine whose motto is Truth in Travel, voted Cape Town the Best City in Africa/Middle East. On behalf of the magazine, South African style guru Colin Cowie made the presentation to Sthu Zungu, President of South African Tourism, at a glamorous reception in New York City.  The list was published in the November issue of the magazine.

In its annual fall survey, Recommend magazine’s readers voted South Africa Best Selling Destination in Africa and Sexiest Romance/Honeymoon Destination in Africa.   Published by the Worth International Media Group, Recommend is a B2B trade magazine that focuses on worldwide destinations and the travel products within them.  It is distributed to over 50,000 travel agents throughout the U.S. and Canada.  The complete list of winners appears in the December issue of the magazine, which also highlights South Africa in its editorial coverage.

The Performance Media Group’s “Readers Choice Awards” represent the top leisure suppliers and destinations in the travel business, as selected by top leisure selling travel agents in the business.  South African Tourism was voted Best Africa & Middle East Tourism Bureau, in a survey that polled over 75,000 leisure agents from the subscriber databases of Agent @ Home and Vacation Agent magazines.

The full results The “Readers Choice Awards” will be reported in the January 2010 issue of the two magazines and on TravelPulse.com.

Earlier this year South African Tourism was recognized as one of the incentive industry’s best suppliers, as the winner of Incentive magazine’s prestigious Platinum Partner Award for 2009.

“We are truly honored to receive these industry accolades,” said Sthu Zungu, President of South African Tourism, North America. “We have a compelling and a complex destination, and our team has worked hard to provide travel professionals with the support they need to effectively sell South Africa.  2010 is a big year for us, as we are hosting the FIFA World Cup™ from June 11 - July 11, and these awards are an important indication that our confidence in South Africa’s tourism product is shared by our travel partners.”

About South African Tourism

For more information on South Africa, a world-class destination, the ideal place for both business and leisure, contact South African Tourism at 500 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2040, New York, N.Y., 10110; Tel: (212) 730-2929; Fax: (212) 764-1980; Email: info@us.southafrica.net or visit www.southafrica.net.  For everything you need to know about planning your trip to the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, visit www.southafrica.net/2010. For information and brochures call 800-593-1318.

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