The conference, that took place in Mbombela from 15 -17 November 2010, attracted more than 170 delegates from 29 countries.

The papers presented by the staff and postgraduate students addressed key sustainability issues in areas such as rural tourism routes; rural tourism cuisine; events as an element of sustainable destination competitiveness; urban ecotourism and the relationship between tourism destination branding and sustainability.

A paper delivered by Mrs Eileen Geldenhuys (a Masters degree graduate in Tourism Management and a lecturer in the Department and a Consumer Science); Dr Gerrie du Randt (a PhD graduate from the Department of Tourism Management and a senior lecturer in Consumer Science); and Prof Deon Wilson from the Department of Tourism Management, was awarded the Best Paper Award in the Cultural Heritage Category.

According to Prof Ernie Heath, Head of the Department of Tourism Management, who delivered a keynote address at the conference, a number of key sustainability issues and challenges were highlighted at the conference, which could inform the future tourism research agenda.

Dr Joram Ndlovu, a PhD graduate from the Department, Prof Ernie Heath, Mrs Elizabeth Kruger (postgraduate student), and Mrs Linde Mclaren (postgraduate student) taking a break during the International Conference on Global Sustainable Tourism.