Bushman Sands, the heritage and eco-tourism development that has sparked the rejuvenation of the railway town of Alicedale, has won a prestigious international award.

The news was announced at the 65th Skal World Congress, an annual gathering of travel and tourism professionals, which is meeting in Durban this year. The award was made in the “villages and cities” category.

Bushman Sands has also been nominated for an award at the December 11 World Travel Awards in Barbados.

Besides being a triumph for the Eastern Cape, the Skal award was great news for South Africa generally.

Skal recognised six category winners this year with Indonesia, New Zealand and India taking three – and SA cleaning up the rest, with wins for Ocean Blue Adventures of Plettenberg Bay and White Shark Projects of Gansbaai, as well as Bushman Sands.

Initiated by Mantis Group co-chairman Adrian Gardiner, Bushman Sands was launched last year in partnership with the Eastern Cape government in the decaying former railway junction town of Alicedale.

It includes a hotel set up in the old railway training college and a day and conference centre in the old station building, a game reserve, golf course, spa and wellness centre, a service industry academy and the African Global Academy for gap year students from Europe.

Gardiner said yesterday that he and his team were “thrilled”.

“It’s obviously a great surprise to us that the development has been recognised so early. But reading through the supporting text for the award I can see that it is being seen in the context of the revival of our dying towns and that what we’re doing is a possible model for doing something really worthwhile in these places.”

Peter Miles, director for the Centre for Tourism Studies at UPE, who nominated Bushman Sands for the award, said the development had already prompted a myriad benefits.

“For instance, the alien vegetation has been removed along the Bushmans River, improving flow. For the first time, people are saying they can ‘see the river’.”

Miles said the Eastern Cape was blessed with a great many small towns whose previous mainstay was no longer viable. “This is a wonderful case study for how historic small towns can be revived.”