Klerksdorp students off to Germany for SA

Two Grade 11 students at Klerksdorp High School have won the annual tourism research award run by the Global Travel and Tourism Partnership South Africa.

Jessica Ngalo and Candice Smit will be accompanied by a teacher, Rudi Meyer, to Munich, Germany, in November to represent South Africa at the annual Global Travel and Tourism Learner Conference.

The winners received their award from the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Tokozile Xasa, at the World Tourism Day celebrations in Polokwane.

The research competition is held each year for the member countries of the Global Travel and Tourism Partnership, a global education programme that promotes and supports tourism education to high school students.

The winning two students and a teacher attend the conference to present their case study to the winners from the other member countries.

The topic for 2010 was “Green Tourism, Fact of Fact”, and the task set for the students was to discuss this topic in an article that would be suitable for a consumer travel magazine.

The winners went one step further and created their own mock travel magazine and the content of this mini-magazine focused solely on green tourism issues such as green-washing, being a green traveller, and responsible tourism practices in the tourism and hospitality industries.

Environmental practices deployed at the Pilanesberg National Park were used as a case study to provide practical examples of green tourism.

Lisa Gordon-Davis, South Africa’s director of the programme, said: “We are delighted with the quality of the entry, and Jessica and Candice are worthy winners of the competition. We know they will do us proud in Germany”.

The GTTP SA is a member of the GTTP, a global non-profit organisation sponsored by the tourism industry. The international organisation has 12 member countries that all offer tourism courses in high schools.