South African TV presenter and host of US-based travel show “Great Getaways” Zahirah Marty has been awarded Best International Programme at the Taste Awards in Los Angeles.
IOL Travel spoke to the Dubai-based Durban-born export on all things travel and the show.
Strongly rooted in her home country, Marty focused much of her content for the show in the first year in and around Africa, visiting South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia with hopes of covering more in upcoming months. When it comes to travelling the continent, the South African-born presenter said that South Africa is her favourite African destination.
“Home is where my heart is, but if I was to exclude South Africa it would be Rwanda,” said Marty.
Speaking on the win, an excited Marty said that creating a travel show is absolutely a team effort and she has the best one.
“I’m really proud of our team, from the crew (who are South African too), to our wonderful executive director and producer, Lisa-Renee Ramirez, who manages everything from the US,” said Marty.
The Westville-raised Durban girl started out in television with SABC’s “Top Billing” and went on to present the first season of “Top Travel”. After moving to Dubai in 2011, she moved away from television for a short while, but it somehow found her again.
“Over the last few years living in Dubai, my husband and I began creating content from our travels and built a community of people who followed along and started looking for inspiration and advice. Soon we were being hosted by airlines, hotels and travel companies to do reviews and share our experiences,” said Marty.
Last year, she received a call to host a new travel show for the Allen Media Group, previously Entertainment Studios, and jumped at the opportunity, and a year later, that show was named Best International Programme at the Taste Awards in Los Angeles.
The annual Taste Awards are the original awards for the lifestyle entertainment industry, and the highest awards for creators, producers, hosts and directors of lifestyle programmes, series, shows and cinema.
Marty said her love for people inspired her love for travel.
“I love learning about cultures, languages, food and how different communities exist alongside us in the world. My soul fires up with a crazy amount of excitement when I travel, and my husband and son love being on the road too, so it has only fuelled my passion for travel and tourism,” said Marty.
Marty considers her love for travel to be a gift, and one that everyone who can should treasure.
“Travel isn’t always about exploring and taking photos, it’s about learning about the places and people. Take time to understand their culture, and most of all, try to leave a positive impact wherever you go,” she said.
This could also be the reason behind the Durban native choosing Dubai as her home base. Marty had received a scholarship to study her Master’s in the UK but at the very last minute changed her mind and decided to enter the working world in the UAE instead.
“It’s a decision I see as a universal intervention of sort, and one that I am so grateful to have been led to. Dubai was familiar to me from travels, and I loved how it seamlessly merged cultures, modernisation and such great vision into one city,” said Marty.
Though Marty has travelled the world, she does admit that she has some dream travel destinations on her bucket list.
“No matter how many times I visit a place, there’s always a different time of year or season that I’d like to revisit it. I’d love to do a cruise to Antarctica, see the northern lights and explore more of Central and South America. There are so many places I’ve visited and fallen in love with, choosing one is such a challenging task. Japan would be very close to the top of my list – the food and culture, beauty and uniqueness of the destination and just how magical and interesting the cities and people are made me fall in love with it. I cannot wait to return,” said Marty.
Having fond memories of growing up in Durban and visiting South Beach Promenade, Marty believes that Cape Town is a definite gem and she loves coming back and spending time there.
“It has all the charm of and warmth of South Africa but an international flair as well,” said Marty.
She has visited many South African gems and believes that South Africa has a lot to offer the modern traveller.
“Growing up, we visited so many parts of the country, doing road trips in our holidays. God’s Window in Mpumalanga, to the Tsitsikamma National Park and the Garden Route, and of course the Kruger National Park… there’s so much beauty in every corner of our country,” said Marty.
And finally speaking on her wanderlust and future endeavours, Marty said: “I love experiencing the world’s most incredible hotels, experiences and destinations… and I love food and gastronomic experiences. I will continue to create amazing shows, but also plan on expanding that into travel experiences (that anyone can join me on), and other interactive projects for travel lovers to join me on.”