Tourism Monitors

Image credit:Marilize Braaf, Shemenay da Silva, Uzusiphe Nkuzo, Nikisha Williams

In September 2019 The Tourism and Business Institute of Southern Africa invited applications from interested candidates to be part of the Tourism Monitors Programme. The program was to be implemented for a period of twelve months for participants from Cape Metropole. Hout Bay was one of the areas which qualified for these tourism monitors.

Nikisha Williams, Marilize Braaf, Shemenay da Silva and Uzusiphe Nkuzo from our local IY and Hangberg communities were duly appointed in October.

HBNW partnered with both the Department of Tourism and The Tourism & Business Institute of Southern Africa (TTBISA), who made the funding available, to train these learners from our community and support them during the on-site practical training here in Hout Bay.

With the extension of the annual Beach Safety Project of the 2019/2020 season, starting at the beginning of December and continuing until the end of January, the tourism monitors provided valuable support during the first and last two weeks of the season.

On Wednesday 15 January at 2:30pm one of our tourism monitors was on Beach Patrol and spotted a person being mugged by 5 suspects on the beach near Dunes. Watchcon was notified and after a radio message was broadcast, all the suspects were caught by those who responded.

During the ongoing practical months of their learnership they have played a big supporting role, patrolling identified tourist hotspots (Beach, Hout Bay Harbour, Market and the Red Bus stops) to provide information and offer advice and recommendations to local residents and tourists. While the programme was put on hold for a few months during lockdown, HBNW is proud that the team has stayed the course, completed their assignments and returned to complete their practical training.

At the end of November, these four Tourism Monitors completed their 12 month programme and graduated with two qualifications – Customer Services and Volunteer Services.

They are committed individuals who love Hout Bay and are looking forward to new opportunities in the future.