Online travel agency awards hotels

By JIMMY LWANGILI

JUMIA Travel Tanzania, online travel agency will award hotels with various prizes to encourage them improve service quality so as to promote destinations and professionalism in the hospitality industry.

Speaking over the weekend during the second African Travel Awards, of Jumia Travel Tanzania, the Public Relations Manager, Geofrey Kijanga said the awards would help in raising awareness on the use of digital tools, and boosting hotels and hospitality industry to meet international standards.
“Our vision and mission is to recognise and award the hospitality players’ merit, as well as to provide a credible benchmark for the tourism industry in Africa and present Jumia Travel as a main contributor to the African hospitality industry,” he noted.
According to him, the awards were introduced last year. This year’s event attracted various guests from the Tourism Confederation of Tanzania (TCT), Hotel Association of Tanzania, hotels, tours and safari agencies.
The awards categorised into seven groups involving the Customer’s Favourite Hotel 2017, Customer’s Favourite Airline Company 2017, Best Destination Website 2017, Jumia Travel’s Booking Award 2017, Traveller’s Choice Hotel 2017, Best Leisure Hotel in Ghana 2017 and Best Business Hotel in Ghana 2017.
The hotels were selected based on positive reviews from customers who booked on the platform and lodged in these hotels. Hotel White Sands (The Beach Resort) awarded as the Customer’s Favourite Hotel, Mazsons Hotel won an award of Traveller’s Choice Hotel and the Best Business Hotel in Tanzania award went to Harbour View Suites. Jumia Travel’s Booking Award went to Amaan Bungalows.
Other winners are, Park Hyatt Zanzibar awarded as the Best Leisure Hotel in Tanzania, the Customer’s Favourite Airline Company is Precision Air and the Best Destination Website award went to Habari za Jamii Blogspot.
TCT Communication and Media Officer, Mr Denis Simkoko said TCT is the umbrella organisation representing the private business sector (Sub-Sector Association) involved in travel and tourism industry in Tanzania.
He further explained that, it works to ensure that through representation at national level, appropriate macro policies and strategies are adopted for developing and maintaining an environment in which international and domestic tourism will prosper and the business sector will be able to achieve successful growth development while protecting Tanzania’s natural and cultural heritage