ATQ news has released the list of nominees for the 2020 Balafon Awards to be recognised at the 6th Accra Weizo, the West African tourism and travel fair, scheduled to take place in June.
Voting ha commenced online on ATQNews.com, while nominations for the ‘Award of the Decade’ should be sent to atqnewsawards@gmail.com promptly. Nominations and voting will close on May 11, 2020.
The prestigious Balafon Award of excellence has been received by several deserving individuals and corporate bodies in the West Africa.
Past winners include the Director General of the National Council for Arts & Culture of Nigeria, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe (2019 Tourism Man of the Year), Captain Solomon Quainoo (2019 Aviation Man of the Year), and Stella Fubara of Dubai Tourism (2018 Travel Personality of the
Year). Past corporate winners include: Carnival Calabar, Air Peace, Kotoka International Airport, Kempinski Gold Coast Hotel, Accra and many more.
This year, in addition to the usual annual awards, several worthy individuals and leading corporate entities in the industry will be honoured with awards of the decade.
The winners of the 2020 Balafon Awards will be published on ATQNews.com before the 6th Accra Weizo takes place. Accra Weizo themed, “seamless travel is West Africa,” is the regional travel and tourism expo which brings industry professionals together across West Africa.
Initiated in 2014 by ATQ News, Accra Weizo West African travel expo which is hosted annually in the Ghanaian capital city of Accra will celebrate its sixth edition this year with 2019 Balafon Award winner,
Captain Solomon Quianoo, the first Ghanaian to fly the world’s biggest
passenger aircraft A380 has been confirmed as the guest speaker.
WEST AFRICAN TRAVEL AWARDS NOMINEES (BALAFON AWARD)
AWARD OF THE DECADE(2010 – 2020) AWARD OF THE YEAR (2019/2020)
Tourism Personality of The Decade
Travel Personality of the Decade
Aviation Personality of the Decade
Hotel GM of the Decade
Tour Operator of the Decade
Travel Agent of the Decade
Hotel Personality of the Decade
Hotel of the Decade
Boutique Hotel of the Decade
Business Hotel of the Decade
Budget Hotel of the Decade
Resort of the Decade
Beach Resort of the decade
Presidential Suite of the Decade
Restaurant of the Decade
Hotel Conference Centre of the Decade
Events/Conference Centre of the Decade
Hotel Restaurant of the Decade
West African Airline of the Decade
African Airline of the Decade
Non-African Airline of the Decade
Ground Handling Company of the Decade
Travel Company of the Decade
Tourism Personality of the Year
Aviation Personality of the Year
Travel Personality of the Year
Hotel Personality of the Year
Hotel GM of the Year
Hotel of the Year
Resort of the Year
Beach Resort of the Year
Boutique Hotel of the Year
Business Hotel of the Year
Budget Hotel of the Year
Presidential Suite of the Year
• Airline of the Year in West Africa (Non-African)
Turkish Airlines (TK)
British Airways (BA)
Air France (AF)
Emirates (EK)
• Airline of the Year in West Africa(African)
South African Airways (SA)
Ethiopian Airlines (ET)
EgyptAir (MS)
Kenya Airways (KQ)
• West African Airline of the Year:
AirPeace (P4)
Africa World Airlines (AW)
Air Côte d’Ivoire (HF)
ASKY Airlines (KP)
• Tourism Event of the Year:
Afro-Nation, Ghana
Carnival Calabar, Nigeria
PANAFEST, Ghana
Fête du Vodun, Bénin République
• Hotel Conference Centre of the Year:
Eko Convention Centre, Eko Hotels & Suites, Lagos Nigeria
Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja Nigeria
Kempinski Hotel Gold coast City, Accra Ghana
King Fahd Palace Hotel, Dakar Senegal
• Event/Conference Centre of the Year:
Palais des Congres, Lomé Togo
Accra International Conference Centre, Accra Ghana
Abdou Diouf International Conference Centre (CICAD), Dakar Senegal
Abuja International Conference Centre, Abuja Nigeria
• Airport of the Year:
Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja Nigeria
Kotoka International Airport, Accra Ghana
Blaise Diagne International Airport, Dakar Senegal
Felix Houphouet-Boigny International Airport, Abidjan Côte d’Ivoire
• International Tourism Marketing Agency of the Year:
Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA)
South Africa Tourism (SAT)
Gambia Tourism Board (GTB)
Dubai Tourism & Commerce Marketing (DTCM)
Ghana is the leading Meetings Incentives Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) destination in West Africa and ranks number one on ICCA ratings. Hosting Accra Weizo reinforces the positioning of Accra for MICE and Ghana for tourism.
