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THE Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry has launched new national tourism awards, Twalumba Travel and Tourism, aimed at stimulating individual and collective efforts in pursuit of growth and development.
The awards were launched in Harare last week and seek to recognise and acknowledge outstanding people and organisations who would be the nominees in different categories each year.
Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister, Mangaliso Ndlovu, officially launched the awards and stressed the importance of credibility that goes beyond reproach.
“We have agreed to be part of this process because we have been assured by our other partner stakeholders that indeed credibility of the awards will not be an issue for debate.
“These awards are to be known as the Twalumba Travel and Tourism Awards. The word ‘Twalumba’ comes from the Tonga language and it means ‘thank you’, an appropriate meaning in such an awards context,” he told the gathering of tourism stakeholders.
“It is fitting that the word comes from the Tonga language as the Tonga people live in an area that has long been the foundation of our travel and tourism sector.
“It is a word that is easily pronounced, easily recognised and bound to become symbolic of our desire to make these awards meaningful, as well as a display of gratefulness by the whole nation.”
Categories on offer include: the tourism business of the year, tourism entrepreneur, tourism personality, eco-tourism facility, event of the year, corporate responsibility project, media coverage (print/broadcast/online), tour guide of the year, tourism image builder, market achievement to mention a few.
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