New Tourism Awards Platform Launches

New Tourism Awards Platform Launches to Give South African Tourism Businesses Free National Exposure

Nominations are now open for the 2026/27 Tourism Awards, with public voting beginning on 1 December 2026. The new non-profit initiative aims to improve tourism business visibility, encourage traveller engagement and help lesser-known tourism experiences reach new audiences.

A new national tourism recognition initiative has launched in South Africa, offering accommodation establishments, tour operators, attractions, activity providers and other tourism businesses an opportunity to gain additional exposure without paying an entry fee.

The Tourism Awards programme has been developed around a simple challenge facing many tourism operators: delivering an exceptional visitor experience does not necessarily translate into online visibility, industry recognition or new bookings.

For smaller and independently operated tourism businesses, limited marketing budgets can make it particularly difficult to compete for attention against larger, established brands.

The new platform aims to help address this by combining public nominations, verified consumer voting, business profiles and national promotional opportunities into an accessible tourism marketing initiative.
Turning Traveller Recommendations Into Business Opportunities

The programme invites travellers to nominate tourism businesses and experiences they believe deserve recognition.

Once nominated, businesses can claim and manage their entries, adding information about their offerings, photographs, contact details and website links.

Businesses can also enter themselves directly, completely free of charge.

When public voting opens on 1 December 2026, participating businesses will be able to invite previous guests and customers to support them through verified votes.

Voters will also have the option to leave reviews describing their experiences, helping businesses build a publicly accessible collection of genuine customer feedback.

The platform is designed to create value beyond the final awards results, giving participating operators opportunities to reconnect with previous guests, strengthen their online presence and attract interest from potential customers and tourism trade partners.
R100,000+ in Marketing Support for the Top Tourism Business

In addition to category recognition, the initiative has secured a growing tourism marketing prize package currently valued at more than R100,000

The eligible tourism business receiving the highest number of valid votes nationally will win the Ultimate Tourism Marketing Giveaway.

Confirmed contributions include a comprehensive marketing audit, professional photography, magazine advertising and editorial exposure, a consumer email marketing campaign and a year's subscription to nudgie, a WhatsApp customer communication and automation platform.

The package is intended to provide practical marketing support that can help the winning operator improve its visibility and customer engagement.
Opportunities for Destinations and Industry Associations

The initiative also creates opportunities for destination marketing organisations, tourism associations and regional tourism bodies to promote their members and showcase lesser-known tourism offerings.

By encouraging local businesses to participate, destination organisations can use the awards as an additional platform to highlight regional experiences, generate positive tourism stories and encourage travellers to explore beyond established tourism hotspots.

The awards will also provide opportunities for participating destinations and businesses to feature in tourism-related media coverage as nominations, voting results and category winners are announced.
Nominations Now Open

The 2026/27 Tourism Awards nomination phase is officially open.

Tourism businesses across South Africa are encouraged to enter their products ahead of the public voting launch on 1 December 2026.

There is no fee to nominate a business, enter an eligible tourism product or participate in the public voting process.