​​The Stellenbosch University (SU) Museum, for the first time, won the Cape Winelands District Municipality's Mayoral Tourism Award recently. This is another feature in the cap of the Museum after it received an award from the Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport as the best museum promoting social inclusion earlier this year.

The annual Mayoral Tourism Awards celebrate the achievements of the Cape Winelands tourism industry role-players and showcase the best tourism entities, products, service excellence and the people behind it. They acknowledge those entities, products and people that excelled and continue to surpass expectations within the Cape Winelands tourism fraternity.

Commenting on the Museum latest's achievement, Mr Bongani Mgijima, Director of the SU Museum, said: “We are very humbled by this recognition in the form of the Mayoral Tourism Award for Sustainable Development. This symbolic gesture shows that the work of the University Museum is being noticed. The Award also acknowledges the university Museum as a major cultural and tourism destination in the region."

“Sustainability is a key pillar of the University's Vision 2040 and Strategic Framework 2019-2014. We are very grateful that our Museum is in a small way contributing to the achievement of this bigger vision," he added.

Mgijima said the SU Museum wants to be a leading museum of the 21st century committed to economic, environmental and social sustainability while its programmes are a testimony of its commitment to promote and demonstrate effective sustainable tourism practices.

One such example is the Museum's Access to Visual Arts programme that enables disadvantaged school learners from the Cape Winelands District and those within a 120 km radius of Stellenbosch to visit the Museum, the SU campus and the botanical garden.

“The Mayoral Tourism Award forms part of a growing number of awards and acknowledgements that the SU Museum has received over the last year. This affirms the museums position as a space for engagement, dialogue, the sharing of history (and our stories), and indeed as space where art comes alive. This is just as true for the broader university community and in our town at large," said Dr Leslie van Rooi, Senior Director for Social Impact and Transformation at SU.

A major drawcard for international, national and local tourists, the SU Museum hosts social events and conferences that bring together residents, tourists and students, and build social capital. Every year it also hosts a Networking Lunch for all registered tour guides in the Western Cape.

• ​Main photo: Staff at the SU Museum posing with the Mayoral Tourism Award.
  
• Photographer: Ulrich Wolff