Durban - A KwaZulu-Natal South Coast tourism attraction as been named the country’s visitor experience of the year for action and adventure.
Wild 5 Adventures at Oribi Gorge won the coveted honour from South African Tourism. It picked up a Lilizela Tourism Award at Gold Reef City last week.
Internationally-famous tourist guide Rob Caskie, known for his story telling about the battles of Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift, was named the country’s winning culture tourist guide.
And Mavuso Msimang, who set up Tourism KZN and briefly led it as its chief executive officer, won this year’s minister’s award, which honours an individual or business that has made a noteworthy local and global contribution to tourism economically and socially.
Msimang, who was presented with the honour by Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom, is currently the chief executive of the Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Foundation and also sits on several company boards for corporate and non-governmental organisations.
His work has involved the transformation and restructuring of state-owned entities, including SA Tourism and the SA National Parks.
The attraction boasts the famous gorge swing which at 165m, is the highest in the world.
Its other top adventure lures are white water rafting, abseiling, a zip line and an 84m suspension bridge across a crevice in the gorge.
“It’s very exciting to be named the best action adventure in the country and it is good for the business to be recognised by your peers as our staff work so hard,” said owner Paul Jefferys.
In March, Thokozani Mncube, who was employed as a jump master at the swing, died while performing a dangerous variant of the recommended manoeuvre.
The Department of Labour, as well as a third-party investigator brought in by Jefferys, found that the accident had been as a result of Mncube’s negligence, he said.
“He did the particular stunt on his own. It was not in the course of his duty.
“He was the jump master, not a swing person,” Jeffreys explained.
A second South Coast business – the Umthunzi Hotel and Conference centre at Umtentweni, near Port Shepstone – won the three-star accommodation Lilizela award.
Another KZN winner was the ATKV-Drakensville Vakansieoord in the Drakensberg, which took the award for the best single resource management (water) for a large establishment.
The 2-year-old Lilizela Tourism Awards experienced a growth of 854 percent in the number of votes received from 2013 to 2014 (784 v 7 480), which SA Tourism said “highlights the importance of consumer reviews”.
Visitors to the awards website also spent an average of six minutes compared with the two minutes they stayed last yearwhich “indicates that the brand… is gaining traction among consumers”.
Daily News