Horst Frehse
Horst is one of the most beloved hoteliers in South Africa. He has led many of the country’s most successful hospitality establishments and has held positions at Protea Hotels, The Braamfontein Hotel, The Heerengracht, Kalahari Sands Hotel, Grande Roche Hotel, Singita Game Reserves, Asara Wine Estate & Hotel and The Twelve Apostles. He has served on the board of Relais & Châteaux.
In 2011 he was awarded the Officier Maître Hotelier du Bailage d’Afrique du Sud de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs award for his contribution to the Chaîne and the hospitality industry in South Africa. Horst was bestowed the ultimate honour in 2015 at the annual Red Carnation Hotels Staff Appreciation Awards Gala, receiving a Lifetime Achievement award for his accomplishments, passion and dedication to the South African hotel industry.
Horst has a great understanding of what it takes to keep a guest happy and returning to an establishment. He has always commanded great respect from the teams which he has lead.
Following a stellar career which spanned more than 40 years, in December 2015, Horst announced his retirement he is now a consultant to the tourism and hospitality industry.
Gwynneth Matthews
A judge in the service excellence category of the 2019 Wine & Food Tourism Awards, Gwynneth Matthews is the founding member of Southern Cross Conferences, a 100% black-owned emerging conference management company, based in Cape Town.
She has managed many international conferences of up to 3 000 delegates and brought the internationally acclaimed Night Nation Run to Cape Town in 2017. Gwynneth plays an active role in skills development in the local meetings industry and currently serves as Director on the National Board of the Southern African Association for the Conference Industry since 2016, and is part of a collaborative team that has secured the largest medical conference Cape Town has ever hosted, for 2020.
André Morgenthal
A seasoned wine marketing and communications specialist, André Morgenthal studied philosophy, languages and drama at the University of Stellenbosch, has run a specialised wine tourism business, provided training and consulting services for restaurants, hotels and lodges, and has lectured at the Cape Wine Academy. He has worked several vintages at Domaine Bertagna in Vougeot, Burgundy and made wine on a small Stellenbosch property, Clos du Ciel. He has written for newspapers and magazines both locally and internationally.
In 2001, he joined Wines of South Africa (WOSA) as communications manager with a focus on media relations, as well as a mandate for wine tourism and to represent the South African wine industry on the Great Wine Capitals Global Network. In 2016 he resigned from WOSA to start his own business, among other ventures assisting Rosa Kruger with the Old Vine Project (OVP).
About the Wine & Food Tourism Awards:
The aim of the Wine & Food Tourism Awards platform is to recognise those individuals and teams who have made exceptional contributions to the development and promotion of the South African wine and food tourism industry. Jean-Pierre Rossouw serves at the awards chairperson, overseeing the judging panel in three categories: Innovation, Service Excellence and The Authentic South African Experience.
The Innovation category is judged by marketing thought-leader Steve Massey, strategic marketing expert Mac Mabidilala as well as tourism professional and co-founder of the Oranjezicht City Farm Sheryl Ozinsky; while wine.co.za founder and owner Judy Brower, hospitality entrepreneur Janet Pillai, and wine marketing fundi Su Birch serve as judges in The Authentic South African Experience category.
There will be a maximum of three honourees in each category, and each of them will get the opportunity to include the Wine & Food Tourism Awards 2019 logo on all their marketing material for the following year. Individuals or teams who have been named as honourees for three years in a row will receive membership to the elite Wine & Food Tourism Honourees Club. Thereafter they will not be eligible to be nominated for the same award again.
Participants may nominate as many wine and/or food establishments as they wish, in any or all of the categories. A separate form needs to be submitted for each nomination. An administration fee of R600 is applicable to each nomination.
Nominations could be submitted via the website, www.wineandfood.co.za/awards. The closing date for participants to submit their nominations is 10 June 2019.
The honourees per category of the Wine & Food Tourism Awards 2019 will be announced at the Wine & Food Tourism Conference 2019, taking place on 18 September 2019 at Spier near Stellenbosch. This is the fourth time this annual conference is being presented.
The 2019 event, themed The Future of Wine & Food Tourism, will as per previous years provide an invaluable platform for participants to network and keep abreast of what is hot and happening in South African wine and food tourism. Go to www.wineandfood.co.za to view the programme and line-up of speakers.
Save 51% by registering before 30 June (early bird registration)!
Go to www.wineandfood.co.za for more information, to register for the conference, and to submit awards nominations.
Social media:
Twitter and Facebook: @winefoodconf
Instagram: @winefoodtourismconf
Hashtag: #wfconf2019