KwaZulu-Natal tourism industry to up its game
05. Dec, 2008
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Durban – The upcoming year is KwaZulu-Natal’s last real chance to up its game in service excellence in the tourism and hospitality industry ahead of South Africa’s hosting the Fifa World Cup in 2010.
This was the resounding call made by Tourism KwaZulu-Natal boss Ndabo Khoza at the launch of the 2009 Zulu Kingdom Service Excellence Awards Campaign at Sibaya Casino last week.
“This awards campaign positions us as a destination to be better hosts in 2010 and beyond. As we seek leveraging opportunities from the 2010 Fifa World Cup, we will continue with our marketing efforts and ensure that service excellence becomes a central point.
“We only have one year to close any gaps in service excellence, and further raise the bar to meet and surpass global standards so that we can reap the benefits beyond 2010,” Khoza said.
The annual Zulu Kingdom Service Excellence Awards – now in its eighth year – has grown in size and stature over the years, and is recognised as arguably the leading provincial tourism industry awards campaign in South Africa.
It is aimed at inspiring and recognising greater levels of service excellence in the burgeoning tourism and hospitality industry.
“The tourism industry is cited as a major economic force and creator of jobs – and, if KwaZulu-Natal is to take the lead – quality, hospitality, entrepreneurship and excellence must be encouraged and rewarded,” Khoza said.
“We at TKZN subscribe to the view that excellent service will motivate tourists to recommend the destination to family and friends, and also result in repeat visits, which are critical to the diversified product offering. Given the value of word-of-mouth destination marketing by tourists, TKZN placed a premium on improving visitor experiences in the Zulu Kingdom through encouraging greater service excellence.
“In this industry, we have to be seen to be welcoming to all the people who come to KZN. Our experience has taught us that tourists who leave the Zulu Kingdom having had exceptional service are most likely to be our ambassadors. It is for this reason that it is important for us to work together to ensure that the Zulu Kingdom experience as a whole is one that will ensure that our visitors keep coming back for more,” he said.
Since first being launched in 2002, the Service Excellence Awards initiative has been expanded each year to encourage service excellence across all aspects of the tourism industry.
Khoza said the 2009 Zulu Kingdom Service Excellence awards would not be introducing any new categories, but rather focus on perfecting and strengthening the overall campaign. “The 2009 campaign will focus on strengthening partnerships with major stakeholders as every element in the tourism industry requires stakeholder engagement. TKZN continues with its good working relationship with the Chain de Rotisseurs and the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa.
“We take partnerships and the endorsement of this campaign by Fedhasa East Coast Region, Satsa and SAACI very seriously,” he said.
“We need to continually improve service excellence if we are to continue attracting increased numbers of local and foreign tourists to the Zulu Kingdom. To this end we have tried to make our award initiative more inclusive.”
Meanwhile, Nozuko Ngozi – the HR director in the national department of environmental affairs and tourism – expressed concern at South Africa’s poor performance in terms of service excellence in the World Tourism Organisation’s country ratings.
“South Africa is rated 111th out of 124 countries for service and this is a cause for concern. However, we have done a skills audit and now are developing a national service excellence strategy for the tourism and hospitality industry,” she said.
“The country faced a huge challenge when it won its bid to host the 2010 Fifa World Cup and woke up to the fact that when it came to service and customer excellence, it was not really ready. But we are now working on a service excellence strategy at national level and we will get there.”
She said the strategy would be finalised next year, with the department researching the issue and even consulting with international experts.
All businesses in the tourism industry are encouraged to enter the 2009 Zulu Kingdom Service Excellence Awards. Entry is now open and entry forms are available from Tourism KZN’s headquarters at the Tourist Junction in Durban or logon to the agency’s website www.zulu.org.za.
Adjudication begins in February next year and will culminate in an awards ceremony, set to be held in the first quarter of 2009. Winners in each category stand to win R10 000 in business support and marketing.
The categories for the awards 2009 are:
- Accommodation in the categories of B&B and guest houses, lodges and self-catering hotels;
- Tour operators in business for less than five years and those in business for more;
- Tourism Information Office of the Year;
- Craft Project of the Year;
- Most Innovative Tourism Project of the Year;
- Restaurants of the Year;
- Special Judges Award;
- MECs Award;
- Tourism Journalist of the Year in print and electronic media; and
- The Wheel Operator of the Year
My name is Muzi Mohale a full-time travel blogger, your host at Travelwires.com responsible for all editorial on this blog. I blog about the travel and tourism industry in Africa. Apart from blogging about tourism, I also run 
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