The first of this year’s ICRT Global Responsible Tourism Awards were presented at WTM Africa, held at the CITCC in Cape Town. The ceremony resonated with the sound of Africa as those being recognised celebrated. Africa is our world’s most culturally diverse continent, rich in music, dance, storytelling, stunning landscapes, and nature.
This year, the Awards honoured 20 winners — businesses and organisations from nine countries: Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
These Awards recognise changemakers making tourism better, as identified by our judges for their success in addressing environmental and socio-economic challenges. Through the Awards process, we highlight those reducing the negative impacts of travel and tourism and aim to encourage others to follow suit.
We explain our reasons for recognising each of the gold and silver winners, and we encourage the Ones to Watch to apply again once they’ve gained more experience or evidence of impact — they have the potential to become gold or silver winners in the future.
As I said during the ceremony: “These are not easy awards to win. The judging process is intense. To be in this room, to be on this recognition list, is a massive achievement. By entering these awards, you shine a light on ideas and innovation that will inspire others. We know that taking responsibility for tourism is hard, but your work has shown what is possible. Together, we will inspire the Responsible Tourism changemakers of the future.”
We recognised two TUI Care Foundation initiatives, lodges, and — for the first time this year — two groups working to make the tourism supply chain more responsible.
SILVER: Hamagriza, QwaQwa, South Africa
Hamagriza offers a restaurant, coworking hub, tours, and events, creating an immersive cultural experience that showcases the region’s unique history, traditions, and flavours. It estimates the creation of at least 20 jobs and revenue generation exceeding R500,000 for local businesses. The judges were particularly impressed by how the initiative has encouraged local pride in heritage and culture.
SILVER: Kijani Supplies, Kenya
Kijani Supplies is a supply chain and logistics company committed to greening Africa’s hospitality sector. Founded in Kenya in 2023, it provides safari hotels with sustainable, locally sourced products, while reducing the carbon footprint associated with hotel supply and procurement. In its first year, 2024, it built a network of 112 suppliers and served 125 hotels in the Greater Maasai Mara, delivering goods worth approximately USD $585,000. It worked directly with 32 community-based micro and small enterprises, providing them with business worth USD $29,000 and supporting 170 jobs.
This year’s awards showcased many inspiring examples. Judging was genuinely challenging. We encourage you to explore what’s happening across Africa in travel and tourism — be inspired. Brighten your day with Africa’s changemakers.
The Gold winners from the Africa Responsible Tourism Awards will automatically be entered into the ICRT Global Awards, sponsored by Sabre. These will be judged by an international panel and announced globally via a streamed event in November.
Regional awards will continue throughout the year — all are now open for entries. If you know of worthy initiatives, encourage them to apply. The judges can only select from those who enter.
Upcoming deadlines
- Latin America: 25 April
- South East Asia: 28 April
- Europe: 23 May
- India Subcontinent: 30 June
