WINNERS of the 28th World Travel Awards (WTA) in the Africa category were announced on Thursday, with East Africa walking away with the most awards.
East Africa’s Kenya and Tanzania scooped at least 20 combined awards in the Africa category of WTA, a prestigious annual programme in the travel, tourism and hospitality industries.
Kenya Airways won Africa’s Leading Airline 2021, the country’s capital Nairobi won the award for Africa’s Leading Business Travel Destination, and Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club won in the category of Africa’s Leading Hotel.
Tanzania’s semi-autonomous archipelago Zanzibar led the race for Africa’s Leading Beach Destination, while Serengeti National Park won in its category, too.
Tanzania National Parks revealed that it was the third time in a row they had won in the leading national park category for Africa.
Earlier in October, the East African Community held its first Regional Tourism Expo to promote the region as a single tourist destination.
‘We are also emphasising development and promotion of multi-destination tourism packages that would encourage visitors to travel to more than one EAC partner state in a single trip,’ the secretary-general of the EAC Peter Mathuki said at the time.
‘This will go a long way in supporting the initiative of branding EAC as a single tourism destination that is also in the pipeline,’ he said.
South Africa also walked away as one of the big winners at the WTA. Cape Town International Airport won in the aviation category, while Johannesburg’s Radisson Hotel and Convention Centre took the title of Africa’s Leading New Hotel.
Voting for WTA’s world categories clos
es on October 24, with winners being unveiled on November 26.
