Cannons Creek High School, in partnership with Big Tree Marketing, launched its pilot ‘Tourism Through Our Eyes’ event, on 16 April 2021. The event was targeted at Grade 11 and 12 Tourism learners from Cannons Creek, Vista Nova High School, and Pinelands High School, in order to give real world application to the curriculum through panel discussions with industry experts. The aim of the event was threefold – to inform pupils about the dynamic Tourism industry, to inspire learners, and to ignite a vision and passion amongst learners. The panel discussions were split according to category type – Transport (Geert van Doorn from Cullinan Transport, Trevor Brown from Turkish Airlines, and Cheryl Schmidt from MSC Cruises), Attractions & Activities (Marie-Louise Keller From Gravity Adventures, and Richard Kilpert and Belinda Tamukedde from Zeitz MOCAA), Accommodation (Johan van Schalkwyk from Aquila Game Lodge, and Walda Lloyd from Signature Lux Hotels), and Tour Operators (Julia Louw, and Alex Wrottesley and Frances Wilson, from Into Africa). Geert van Doorn offered the following advice to pupils – “It is hard work. Sometimes there’ll be no opportunity unless you create it yourself.” Jenni Vermaas from Cape Town Tourism encouraged pupils to get involved – “Even if you don’t go into the Tourism Industry, you’ll still play a role in it. We are relying on the upcoming generation – you are the ones with the innovations and ideas, the new deliverables.”
Two Grade 12 learners from Cannons Creek offered their feedback: Siya Sekhosana – “The Tourism Expo was very informative and very well done. Personally, I learnt a lot as a student, and I hope that it goes on for the next couple of years and I hope it grows into something even bigger.” Samuel Pitt provided the following feedback – “I thought it was informative, it was interesting, and I learnt a lot of new things about the sector that I didn’t know before.”
The event also featured expo presentations from Gravity Adventures, Two Oceans Aquarium, Cullinan Transport, Cape Sidecars, Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town Tourism, Cape RADD, White Shark Projects, Turkish Airlines, and Canopy Tours. Christo Brand, Nelson Mandela’s previous prison guard, also had a stand promoting his book ‘Doing Life with Mandela – my prisoner, my friend’.
