Nine students graduates from SA Tourism Travel Writing Summer School

Johannesburg – South Africa’s tourism industry received a literary boost with the graduation of nine students from the South African Tourism Travel Writing Summer School on 23 June 2007.  The school came about because of the need to create ‘new voices’ in the travel writing arena. Hilton Sarakunda, former Content Manager for SA Tourism now with Tsotsitaal Projects, says,”Last year, our group of journalists decided to put their talents together in order to pass on their skills to a younger generation of travel writers that more realistically reflects the South African population. Last year’s programme was such a success that we decided to re-run the course this year and we are thrilled at the quality of writing talent that we have unearthed and released into the market. South African Tourism was very supportive of all the efforts that we made.”

For SA Tourism’s Chief Executive Officer, Moeketsi Mosola, encouraging new voices in the travel writing arena is essential for growth. He says, “Our industry is a dynamic one and when we embarked on this project we knew that we had identified a number of potential writers, but having gone through the process, we are truly astounded by the sheer extent of their talent. It is hugely encouraging, because we realise that in order to truly capture the uniqueness of our tourism product and to express its authenticity and diversity, new and different voices need to be included in the marketing of South Africa, as a destination of choice. We are thrilled to support the training of new skills and talents and we expect big things from our students in the future.”

This year’s course ran over a period of five months and included excursions to Dinokeng, Soweto, the Cradle of Humankind, Greater Johannesburg and Limpopo province. According to mentor and author Pat Hopkins, of Tsotsitaal Projects the course is a very practical one. “We want students to be proactive and to get out there and find the stories. It’s not up to us to spoon-feed these young minds, but to encourage and guide them’.

Authors, Chris Marais and Julienne du Toit also came up from their new home in Cradock to mentor the students regarding conservation and camera-work, and Natalia Thomson from Now Media pitched in to tutor the students on working with the tourism trade media.

 The course covered a wide variety of subjects, including: writing for the web, writing for the travel industry, profiles and characters, environment and conservation as well as offering practical tips for students who wish to make a mark in the local travel writing media.

“The opportunity to cultivate new talent and introduce new voices through teaching the craft of travel writing is extremely exciting. I would like to thank all the facilitators and lecturers, who freely gave of their precious time. I would also like to congratulate the students on their achievements,” Mosola concludes.

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