Aquila Private Game Reserve has received one of the most prestigious sustainable tourism awards in the world.
“We are proud to share the news with you that we have received the world’s most prestigious international sustainable tourism award: The 2020 Skål International Sustainable Tourism Award for a Major Tourist Attraction,” the reserve announced via its Facebook page.
The 2020 Skål International Sustainable Tourism Awards was presented at their annual general assembly on Saturday, October 17. This year’s world congress assembly was held virtually after the intended Croatian event was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The virtual assembly, together with the presentation of its internationally acclaimed awards, gave a glimmer of hope while the tourism economy of the world is recovering from the COVID-19 lockdown, and some regions going back into strict regulations,” Aquila said in a statement.
“Having previously been awarded the most prestigious South African tourism awards: The 2014 National Lilizela Imvelo Award for best economic impact by a large tourism establishment in South Africa, and the 2015 National Lilizela Imvelo Award for sustainable development, Searl Derman, the owner of Aquila Private Game Reserve was proud to once again be honoured with the world’s most prestigious international sustainable tourism award.”
The Skål International Sustainable Tourism Awards were launched in 2002 to showcase global best practice.
“The awards are geared towards enhancing the visibility and grant recognition to entities within the Travel and Tourism Industry,” said Peter Morrison, World President of Skål International.
The awards are open annually to all public and private sector companies, educational institutions, NGOs, and government agencies. In its nineteenth edition of the awards ceremony, 44 entities from 23 countries competed in the nine available categories.
“We send our congratulations to the team at Aquila Game Reserve for this international award, which comes at a time when we are working hard to promote our tourism sector both locally and internationally. Tourism is a major job creator in our province and making this sector more sustainable will help to create and preserve jobs in the long term,” Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said.
Picture: Aquila Private Game Reserve/Facebook