HOW BEEKMAN GROUP EARNED KZN’S TOP BRAND RECOGNITION

Beekman Group’s journey began on the KwaZulu Natal South Coast and has grown into more than five decades of leisure, hospitality and resort management, guided by a clear belief: holidays should be meaningful, memorable and accessible.

On 16 July 2026, Beekman Group was named KZN’s Top Brand at the KZN Top Business Awards at Durban ICC. As a people’s-choice category, the award marked a significant moment for a homegrown business reaching across Southern Africa and beyond. That recognition marks the latest milestone in a story more than 55 years in the making. From its KZN South Coast roots, Beekman Group has grown through change by holding firmly to what matters, strengthening what works and investing for long-term relevance.

Commitment To Family Values

Family has always been at the heart of Beekman Group. Co- founder and Managing Director John Beekman, together with Wayne Beekman, Cindy Allan and Neville Beekman, continue to build on a legacy created over generations. While the world of travel has changed dramatically, the Group has remained true to the values that shaped it from the beginning: caring for people, thinking long term and never standing still. “This business has always been about family – not only the Beekman family, but the people who work with the families who holiday with us.

Over the years, those relationships have become the heart of everything we do,” says John Beekman. Today, Beekman Group supports families returning to favourite resorts, members using flexible ownership, owners accessing exchange, travellers booking accessible holidays, and stakeholders relying on proven resort and holiday management expertise.

Key milestones have added capability, from developing Group entities in the 1980s to expanding into Australia in 1999 and opening Beekman House in 2000. Through every stage, the direction remained clear: create lasting value and pursue Making Extraordinary Holidays THE Standard. To understand why the Beekman name continues to resonate, it helps to look at the many ways it supports the holiday and property journey. Through its family of brands, Beekman Group helps people book holidays, enjoy flexible ownership, exchange holiday weeks, access rentals, and benefit from specialist resort and holiday management services. That depth is reflected in The Holiday Club, one of the Group’s best-known brands, which welcomed its 10 millionth guest in 2025.

The milestone speaks not only to scale, but to the many family holidays, familiar returns and treasured memories behind that number. Built on a points-based system after its South African launch in 1993 and the introduction of Holiday Club Botswana in 1994, The Holiday Club anchors the Group’s flexible ownership story. From there, Beekman Holidays opened resort stays to travellers beyond ownership, iExchange created exchange opportunities, and Beekman Managed Portfolio strengthened the Group’s resort operations, rental solutions and holiday management expertise.

Together, these touchpoints show how long-standing relationships are built across the holiday journey, connected by service, expertise and a long term commitment to value.

The scale of this offering gives practical weight to the achievement. Beekman Group serves more than 80,000 members and guests and manages more than 30 resorts across five countries, offering beach, bushveld, mountain and urban destinations that reflect both its breadth and understanding of memorable holidays.

Among its best-known destinations are Cayley Mountain Resort in the Drakensberg, The Kingdom Resort near Pilanesberg National Park, Dikhololo in the North West Province and San Martinho Beach Club in Mozambique. These are places where families return, traditions take root, and guests are welcomed with the warmth and reliability associated with the wider Beekman family. Industry recognition reinforces that experience. Between 2023 and 2026, Cayley Mountain Resort earned consecutive titles as South Africa’s Leading Lifestyle Resort, while San Martinho Beach Club achieved consecutive wins as Mozambique’s Leading Family Resort at the World Travel Awards.

The Kingdom Resort also regained its title as South Africa’s Leading Family Resort in 2026. Beyond resort-level accolades, the wider business has earned multiple PMR.africa Awards recognising leadership, governance, environmental responsibility, social investment and performance, while the KZN Top Business Awards have recognised Beekman Group for Employee Wellness, Top Family Business, and Green Initiatives. Together, these honours point to a business measured not only by its destinations, but by the people and principles behind them.

People Behind The Promise

Yet accolades only matter when they point back to lived experience. Recognition as KZN’s Employee Wellness winner at the KZN Top Business Awards for 2024 and 2025 reflects the belief that sustained service excellence begins with people and is felt by guests, members, owners, and partners. That people-first legacy is reflected in Neville Beekman’s recent recognition.

In 2025, he was named by PMR.africa as Most Admired in the category of Business Persons Delivering Outstanding Service and Contributing to the Economic Growth and Development of the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast Region. His appearance on this edition’s cover acknowledges a leader who has helped shape both the Group and the region it calls home. That leadership matters because every brand promise is ultimately delivered by people.

Across Southern Africa, 1,450+ employees support the Group’s resorts, member services, booking platforms, resort portfolios, operations and support functions, carrying the Beekman standard into every welcome, call, booking and stay. The Group’s values, Our People, Excellence, Customer Focus, Innovation and Integrity, give that work a shared direction, while the Beekman W.A.Y.: Wow Our Customers, Always Evolving and You Make the Difference, turns those values into daily service. Seen together, the pioneering products, connected serviceplatforms, award-winning destinations, operational expertise and people-centred culture answer the central question behind the 2026 win: why does Beekman Group continue to stand out? Beekman Group continues to stand out because it has grown without losing the heart of its original promise: to create holidays people return to, services they trust and experiences that carry meaning long after their journey home.

Carrying It Forward

KZN’s Top Brand is therefore both a celebration and a responsibility. It recognises what Beekman Group has built, while setting the expectation for what comes next: stronger experiences, wider opportunity, continued innovation and lasting value for those who choose the Group. More than five decades later, Beekman Group continues to grow with purpose, carrying forward the belief that has guided its journey: holidays should matter, service should be trusted, and every experience should leave something lasting behind. Ultimately, KZN’s Top Brand is not a title a business can claim for itself. It is earned over time, through consistency, care and the memories people take home with them. In 2026, Beekman Group’s recognition confirmed that the standard it has worked to build is not only known. It is felt, remembered and valued.

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