Cannons Creek Independent High School, in partnership with Big Tree Marketing, was proud to host the annual ‘Tourism Through Our Eyes’ Expo. This event, held on 26 September (the day before World Tourism Day), was the third of its kind and in attendance this year were learners from Cannons Creek Independent High School and Pinelands High School. The event featured several industry experts where the Tourism curriculum was given real-world application. Some of the industry experts were representatives from Big Tree Marketing, Into Africa, Lagoon Beach Hotel, Immaculate Events, Midday in Africa, Ash Advisory Services, Xpert Xplorers, and I am Cape Town.

The event aims to simulate bigger worldwide events such as Africa’s Travel Indaba, and World Travel Market Africa. The aim of the event is threefold – to inform learners about the dynamic Tourism industry, to inspire learners, and to ignite a vision and passion amongst learners. The event is aimed specifically at Grade 11 Tourism pupils as their curriculum incorporates Job and Career opportunities within the Tourism sector, with a particular focus on entrepreneurship and the scope that Tourism offers.

“This year, the Expo was smaller, yet I wonder if it was possibly more effective as each pupil had the opportunity to personally interact with at least four service providers from the Tourism industry. It was also encouraging to see that exhibitors identified qualities in various learners that would be ideal in the Tourism industry. All in all, a rewarding morning.” – Mrs Wendy Joubert, Cannons Creek Tourism Teacher, and organiser of the event.  Some comments from exhibitors:

• “I always come to these events thinking that I’m coming to give, but I always received and today was no different.”
• “We don’t always interact with the youth, but after today I have hope. All is not lost when I hear about how they are thinking and what their dreams and ideas are.”
• “The pupils were well-prepared with their questions. I enjoyed interacting with them in this format. It was calm and we could have good conversations.”

Some comments form the learners:”The expo was a great experience. It was so insightful to see the variety of jobs that are in the Tourism industry. I know that I am quite a ‘people-person’ so being able to see the different jobs I could potentially go into has been extremely beneficial.” – Aaminah Karjieker, Grade 11. “This expo was a valuable experience and I learned a lot. I favor the time I spent talking to Preston Pieterson (Xpert Xplorers). His business and stories definitely stood out for me and inspired me.” – Ruben Clarke, Grade 11 learner.