Two of the Garden Route's biggest hospitality and golf attractions have received national and international recognition.

Fancourt, whose chief executive is Ingrid Diesel, has been recognised as one of South Africa's top gender-empowered organisations for 2007 by gender empowerment directory Top Women in Business and Government.

And Pezula in Knysna has received the Leading Hotels of the World 2007 chairman's award for the best public relations campaign for Pezula Resort Hotel and Spa.

Fancourt and Diesel will now be among only a small percentage of 3,000 South African companies, government departments and parastatals to be listed in the annual publication.

In a letter to Diesel, directory associate publisher Ilse Pienaar said: "Your prestigious nomination follows from an extensive eight-month research on about 3,000 companies, government departments and parastatals.

"After a rigorous assessment procedure that includes measurement against a set of testing criteria, only a small percentage of researched companies qualified for inclusion in the publication."

Pienaar said the nomination assured Fancourt of inclusion in the annual Top Women in Business and Government publication, which was due for release in August this year. Fancourt would also receive a certificate of achievement for the advancement of women.

Top Women in Business and Government is an annual publication that showcases the significant strides made by organisations and individuals in the empowerment of women in South Africa.

Diesel said the inclusion in the publication was a credit to all the women who worked at Fancourt.

Last week, Pezula was on a list of international destinations which received recognition in an awards ceremony in New York.

Pezula's international public relations campaign was singled out for its "originality of approach in generating greater awareness of the resort among high net worth travellers from the UK, United States and Europe, and the scope of press coverage achieved".

Eastern Province Herald