A Dream Career in Tourism

“I love my job,” says Futhi Ngomane, Founder and Director of the Zen Africa Chef Academy of Food and Wine in Pinetown, KwaZulu Natal.  “Each day is different; I learn new things all the time.”

Zikhona Ndlela, Human Resources Training and Development Practitioner at uShaka Marine World in Durban, echoes her sentiments.  “I get to meet all types of people, and I learn from all of them.”

Both women believe they have found themselves in their dream jobs, and are passionate about the sector they work in - the tourism industry. 

The National Tourism Careers Expo (NTCE) at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban from September 23-24 is designed to expose these types of career opportunities to youngsters who are considering further study on graduating from school. The exhibition is organised by the National Department of Tourism, the National Department of Economic Development, KwaZulu Natal and the Culture, Art, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport Education and Training Authority (CATHSSETA).

 Both Ushaka Marine World and Zen Africa Chef Academy are part of the expo together with over 50 other exhibitors who have signed up to showcase the amazing world of tourism to over 15 000 learners, unemployed youth and educators during the three days.

Ngomane and Ndlela agree that tourism has a very wide breadth of possibilities for the career seeker.  “The sector has so much to offer young South Africans,” states Ndlela.  “It caters for marketing people, engineers, safety officers and human resource specialists, to name just a few examples.  In fact, I would say the industry caters for all people.”

Says Ngomane: “Tourism is challenging - you have to be a hard worker, passionate with the right attitude, but it is always exciting with endless opportunities.”

Bubbling with enthusiasm, Ngomane knew from a young age that the world of cuisine was where she saw her future.  “My father worked at sea as a cook for many years. When he cooked for us at home his dishes were mouth-watering. And of course cooking fresh vegetables from my mother’s garden made it even better.  The simplest meal always looked and tasted like something out of this world; I was fascinated as a kid”.

Something of an entrepreneur, she armed herself with studies in Finance and Business Management and qualified as a chef. 

The founding of the Zen Africa Academy (the names comes from the initial of her two sons, Zipho and Edmund Ngomane) was motivated by Ngomane’s desire to do contribute to the uplifting of rural communities.  “I wanted to offer something that would empower and accommodate young people,” she states.  “I love nurturing new talent and seeing doors open for my students.”

Ndlela, too, placed a priority on skills acquisition.  She undertook a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resources, and participated in Facilitation Skills and ‘Train the Trainer’ courses with a financial services company .“My job has given me the ability to understand that people do not learn things in the same way, therefore I need to adapt your teaching methods.

Flexibility is also a skill that Brian Mogaki, Chief Guide at Johannesburg’s Origins Centre, has learned as he deals with the museum’s varied visitors on a daily basis.  “In a day’s work, I may find myself guiding groups of primary school learners, through to international dignitaries and political leaders.”

Mogaki sees himself as a narrator, who tells the tale of how Africa is the birthplace of modern man and the source of art, symbolism and technology.  His ‘story’ has been shaped by the academics and knowledgeable people he regularly comes across.  “They have all had a bearing on my thinking,” he comments.

He strongly encourages school leavers to consider skills training in the tourism sector.  “It’s an inter-disciplinary environment, crossing so many fields,” he explains.  Equipped with guide training and practical experience on sites such as Gold Reef City and Soweto, Mogaki says a good tourist guide must be open-minded, honest and a people’s person.

Over and above introducing career seekers to the prospects of tourism, the NTCE will offer practical assistance on preparation of curriculum vitae (CVs), psychometric testing, and an enlightening seminar series covering subjects such as marketing, literacy and entrepreneurship.

Having been staged in KwaZulu Natal over the past three years, the exhibition will be moved to other South African centres in years to come, so that the message of tourism’s potential as an employer with multiple choices spreads to all corners of the country.