Former unemployed youth showcase Cape Town tourism’s product offerings to the world!
Placed with host employers Lagugu and City Sightseeing South Africa, one of the top tour operators in Cape Town, 13 former unemployed youth from Atlantis, Mamre and Langa are now confidently working in the tourism sector. They are boldly showcasing Cape Town to the world.
These young people have qualified as Tour Guides. They were issued with their official Tourist Guide badges by the Western Cape Provincial Tourist Guide Registrar’s office in 2019. This followed the completion of the training programme that was facilitated by the City’s Urban Management directorate.
Thereafter, the City together with the aforementioned industry partners facilitated a six month placement, from December 2019 to June 2020, which will equip and prepare the youth for the workplace.
Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Management, Alderman Grant Twigg said, ‘Witnessing these young folks guiding us through Langa and sharing the rich history of Cape Town makes us very proud of how far they have come. They have proven that the investment that the City and its industry partners have ploughed towards their skills development has not gone in vain. We are also grateful to have stakeholders such as Lagugu and City Sightseeing South Africa supporting the youth and honing their skills to ensure that they become the best at what they do.’
Marketing Manager of City Sightseeing, Mandi Jarman said, ‘City Sightseeing are excited to be involved in this project and are honoured to be in a position to give the newly trained guides their first introduction to the vibrant tourism industry. We look forward to working closely with and helping to set the grounding for their future career paths.’
‘We as Lagugu Township Tours fully support the programme. It helps create job opportunities and develop new skills in different areas and around people that need the knowledge. It makes us so happy to work with the City of Cape Town because its bringing a huge change by helping with the unemployment rate in our country. Additionally, it is bringing different skills to the tourism industry,’ said Thobela Gxido, Manager at Lagugu.
‘Tour guiding has provided me with an opportunity to grow in a personal and professional manner and has allowed me to network with people from all walks of life beyond my small town of Mamre,’ said Jodray Arendse, one of the new Tour Guides.
‘I stay in Langa, so I was only exposed to township tourism in Langa. The City of Cape Town and City Sightseeing offered this opportunity which made me learn more about what Cape Town and the whole of the Western Cape has to offer in terms of tourism. I have realised how big the tourism industry is,’ said Nontsikelelo Mqingwana, also a Tour Guide.