Joburg website

18 May 2009 - Joburg website

Joburg wins tourism awards



The Joburg Tourism Company is Africa's leading city tourist board and its chief executive is the continent's travel personality of the year, with the two winning the accolades at the World Travel Awards.



Chief executive of the Joburg Tourism Company (JTC), Lindiwe Mahlangu, has been named Africa travel personality of the year
Chief executive of the Joburg Tourism Company (JTC), Lindiwe Mahlangu, has been named Africa travel personality of the year.



JOBURG definitely has much, much more to offer the business traveller and the leisure tourist - according to the chief executive of the Joburg Tourism Company (JTC), Lindiwe Mahlangu.



The company was named Africa's leading city tourist board at this year's World Travel Awards in Durban.



"The awards are a thumbs-up to the company's efforts and innovations around positioning and entrenching Joburg as Africa's premier business, events and sports tourism destination," Mahlangu said.



"We are absolutely committed to aggressively elevating the Joburg brand beyond the gold history by continuously showcasing its attractive and dynamic creative industry and rich culture and heritage."



The awards came as the company rolled out its FIFA Confederations Cup and World Cup brand creation campaign, titled Score in the city with the golden touch. With this campaign, the JTC is focusing on leveraging Joburg's status as the World Cup hub by offering world-class experiences to local and international visitors.



"We want to show everyone that not only are we leaders when it comes to business tourism through our various world-class facilities, but also that we have a rich cultural heritage that attracts a lot of leisure tourism to this city," Mahlangu explained.



Travel personality


At the awards ceremony, held at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Convention Centre on Monday, 11 May, Mahlangu was also named the Africa travel personality of the year, about which she said, "It is a great honour, considering the calibre of people in the industry."



She added: "As clichéd as this may sound, I really did not expect to win this award; but I am happy and fully attribute it to my team [because] a leader is as good as his or her team."



Mahlangu took over as the chief executive of the JTC from Eddy Khosa in March 2008.



Born in KwaDukuza in the northern suburbs of Durban, in the tourist-friendly province of KwaZulu-Natal, she played significant role in the shaping of the tourism industry in her hometown. Mahlangu headed up Durban Africa, the eThekwini tourism agency, before coming to Joburg.



She tried various fields before finding her place in the tourism industry. With a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Durban-Westville, she has worked for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, and Eskom, the national power supplier.



She also holds advanced business programme certification from Natal Technikon's business studies unit and an MBA from the University of Wales.



The vibrant, straight-taking Mahlangu has been a speaker at various international seminars, in Amsterdam, New Delhi, New Orleans and Leeds, among others on subjects ranging from the development of small, micro and medium enterprises to co-operatives as a stimulus for local economic development and beneficiation of materials as a catalyst for economic development.



The World Travel Awards was established in 1993 to acknowledge, reward and celebrate the enormous achievements in all sectors of the global industry.

Source: Joburg website

Translate

English Spanish Portuguese Chinese (Simplified) German French Russian

Find us on

Newsletter

Subscribe to the World Travel Awards newsletter to keep up to date with our latest news.

Our other awards

World Casino Awards World Cruise Awards World Culinary Awards World Golf Awards World MICE Awards World Ski Awards World Spa Awards World Sustainable Travel & Hospitality Awards World Travel Tech Awards