Mossel Bay, Garden Route (June 2025) – Mossel Bay Tourism was honoured to be shortlisted for top podium positions at the International Tourism Film Festival Africa (ITFFA) awards, which celebrated the continent’s best video content related to the travel and tourism industry at a ceremony in Johannesburg during the first weekend in June.
“Founded in 2019 by Caroline Ungersbock and James Byrne, the awards honour and promote works with exceptional and innovative content created on several continents and splurged on various platforms,” explains Mossel Bay Tourism Chief Operations Officer, Lieschke Steven-Jennings.
“ITFFA aims to contribute towards stimulating development and growth of the national and African audio-visual industry and, at the same time, give visibility and recognition to the many talented operators that form an integral part of the global creative community.”
Invited to enter this exclusive and unique competition were the producers of TV ads, promotional films, video campaigns, videos for social media and blogs, reports, documentaries, and TV magazines tasked with the promotion of tourism destinations, products and services.
The competition is open to public and private entities such as advertising and PR agencies; tourism boards, bureaux and associations; destinations; digital agencies; hotels, resorts and hospitality companies; marketing agencies; municipalities; airlines and cruise lines; tourist attractions; production companies; and independent film makers and students.
In the running this year were 448 films entered from 60 countries. Finally, 280 films were selected to go through the final judging process, and 110 films were awarded Gold, Silver or Finalist awards.
Mossel Bay Tourism’s film Route 12 was selected as finalist for either a gold or silver award under the category ‘Tourism Destinations – Regions’. This category is intended for videos that promote a region, county, state, community or island.
“It was the first year that Mossel Bay Tourism submitted a film and it was a huge honour to win two Silver Awards. Mossel Bay ranked among the top 34 films from more than 440 entries worldwide. Congrats to everyone who made this possible – we are honoured to be part of Africa’s growing film tourism movement,” says Lieschke.
Official jury members – 34 experts from several related spheres, including Lieschke, served on the panel this year – award points to each film submitted. If enough points are received, a film is selected as finalist.
Mossel Bay’s impact at the 2025 ITFFA Awards is significant: the video that gained its place in the top contenders, showcases how Lieschke and her team had to come up with a clever plan to market its large geographical area comprising 12 diverse areas.
“This prestigious recognition places Mossel Bay on the global stage for film tourism, and we couldn’t be prouder of how our story continues to inspire and attract visitors from all corners of the world,” Lieschke concludes.
Take note that the film industry has spent more than R350-million over the past year in South Africa on tourism-related services and products, with an estimated 15% increase forecast for 2026. Click on www.facebook.com/share/p/19aE8S4f99/ for pics of the awards.
