Imvelo Awards finalists announced

Imvelo, running for the ninth year, awards tourism businesses that demonstrate sustained responsible practice in their operations in terms of their natural, social and economic environments.

A record number of 219 category entries were received this year.

Brett Dungan, chief executive officer of FEDHASA says 23 tourism businesses made it to the finals in this year's awards programme.

The finalists are Avis Rent a Car, African Impact, a Cape based tour operator, Carnival City Casino and Entertainment World, City Lodge Hotels, the Drakensberg Sun Lifestyle Resort, Garden Court Eastern Boulevard in Cape Town, Kondowe Nature Reserve in the Gravelotte district, Mashovhela Lodge in the Soutpansberg, Motsethabo Tours in Alexandra, Palazzo Montecasino, Stormsriver Adventures, the Southern Sun Waterfront Hotel, Sun City Resort, Sun International Zambia, the Table Bay Hotel, Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company, The Westin Grand, Umhlanga Sun Lifestyle Resort, the Vineyard Hotel & Spa, White Shark Projects, the Wild Coast Sun, !Xaus Lodge in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and Zululand Rhino Reserve.

Promoting responsible tourism

Imvelo - which means 'nature' in South Africa's Nguni languages - encourages industry members to accept voluntary guidelines promoting responsible tourism. The awards are in line with the responsible tourism guidelines for the South African hospitality industry and the UN World Tourism Organisation's code of ethics, and are supported by the Heritage Environmental Rating Programme.

Awards will be made in the categories Best social involvement programme, Best practice - economic impact, Best overall environmental management system, Best single resource management programme - for energy, water and waste, Most empowered tourism business and Investor in people. An overall Imvelo winner will be selected.

A Chairman's Award could be made at the discretion of the FEDHASA chairman to any Imvelo entrant or any other organisation in the tourism industry that made a significant contribution to responsible tourism over the past year.

Winners will receive their awards at an awards ceremony to be held in Johannesburg on World Responsible Tourism Day, 10 November.

The 2010 awards are supported by Absa, the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs, Eskom and the Industrial Development Corporation.

For more information contact Lynda Bacon on +27 (0) 11 467 5009 or go to www.imveloawards.co.za.