The luxury game lodge
is situated in 26 000
hectares of bushveld in
the north-eastern Lowveld,
offering guests a Big Five
experience. It is relatively
new, with the main lodge
having opened in 2018.
The five-star lodge
features 30 superior
rooms, each with an
en-suite bathroom with
indoor and outdoor
Tourvest
Accommodation and
Activities launched
the Tourvest Field
Guide Academy in
the Makalali Private
Game Reserve
in Hoedspruit in
September 2019.
Ceo of Tourvest
Accommodation
and Activities, Gary
Elmes, recognised
a shortage of
trained and properly
accredited guides,
particularly local
guides.
“The tourism
industry is always in
need of great new
talent and we can
now address the need for
employment while providing
a springboard for these
communities to flourish in
the long-term,” he says.
Sixteen students
were selected from the
communities surrounding
various Tourvest lodges
in southern Africa. After
completing a year-long
training programme, these
students will obtain a
National Qualification
Framework Level 2
Accreditation and will be
guaranteed a minimum
of two years’ employment
at one of the Tourvest
Accommodation and
Activities properties.
The candidates are
provided with board,
lodging, uniforms
and fully sponsored
tuition.
Sihle Mathabela,
one of the male
recruits, who comes
from Hoedspruit, told
TNW he was grateful
for the opportunity.
“I’ve had a
number of temporary
jobs. After the
programme is done,
this will be the first
permanent job I’ve
had and a step
towards a real career
in something.”
The academy sets
itself apart from
similar institutions, with the
programme including a sixmonth foreign languages
course.
This first group are
learning German, and
Italian has been identified
as an additional language,
following recent growth in
tourist numbers.
Tourvest Academy empowers South African youths
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