Sandton Convention Centre is the national five-star winner in the Conference and Exhibition Venue category of the prestigious 2019 Lilizela Tourism Awards, announced at the highly anticipated awards ceremony in Pretoria on Saturday 9 November.

Shaun Bird, GM of Sandton Convention Centre, was delighted at his team’s achievement. “I have no doubt that this significant award won by Sandton Convention Centre can be attributed to team dedication, to the fact that everyone works together to ensure that every event runs smoothly, and that clients receive the best service possible.

“Our core strategy this year is customer focus – being flexible and listening to what our clients want. This has definitely paid off.”

SCC’s ability to listen to clients’ wants and needs ensures that events are tailor-made to requests. “Another of our key differentiators is our world-class food and beverage offering, and earlier this year, Executive Chef James Khoza and his team introduced new menus in line with client requests, while also taking into account changing trends in the food industry as well as sustainability. Our chefs are available to host food tasting sessions for our clients to ensure that their menu preferences are accommodated.”

The acclaimed Lilizela Tourism Awards presented by SA Tourism, now in their seventh year, recognise and reward tourism businesses that deliver a world-class product and service, and contribute to the growth of South Africa’s global competitiveness. They also give hospitality and tourism businesses the opportunity to compete and assess how they measure up against similar businesses in the industry, providing a further boost to South Africa’s already high quality and wide-ranging tourism offerings.

The fact that this industry accolade is awarded by SA Tourism allows Sandton Convention Centre to showcase the hard work and dedication that was delivered in the past year. “As an international convention centre, represented on the global stage at various trade shows, we believe that this award will benefit SCC in growing our international conference business,” says Bird.

Sandton Convention Centre was up against worthy contenders in the competition, which Bird notes continuously raise the industry bar alongside SCC. He says, “I am extremely proud of my team and what we have accomplished this year. This is an excellent achievement for us and on behalf of the entire SCC team, I would like to heartily thank all our clients who voted for us. We appreciate you all.” Taking a leaf out of the Springbok Rugby World Cup book, Bird says, “We can only grow stronger together.”