Future Leaders programme connects high school learners with tourism professionals and emerging opportunities in technology and entrepreneurship.
Tourism is not only about hotels, tour guides and travel agencies. It also offers careers in technology, data, marketing, events, finance, entrepreneurship and experience design.
That was the message Cape Town Tourism (CTT) shared with learners at Masiyile Senior Secondary School in Khayelitsha through its Future Leaders programme during Tourism Month.
The programme brings tourism professionals into schools to give learners an honest and practical view of the industry. Learners can ask questions about finding their first job, qualifications, earning potential, industry connections, entrepreneurship and how artificial intelligence (AI) may affect the careers they are considering.
Many young people study tourism at school without meeting anyone who works in the industry. Future Leaders helps close that gap by making career opportunities, challenges and pathways more visible.
IAM Cape Town facilitated the session at Masiyile Senior Secondary School, bringing learners face to face with panellists and industry leaders from AB Creations, IC Africa Travel & Tours, Tales from Africa Travel, the Two Oceans Aquarium, and CFG Travel. They shared their career journeys and gave learners a first-hand view of the different opportunities, challenges and routes into the tourism industry.
Learners were encouraged to ask candid questions about whether a degree is necessary, how to enter the industry without money or family connections, what employers look for, how to build a professional network and what happens to tourism jobs during a crisis.
The conversation also covered entrepreneurship, personal branding, responsible tourism, and the realities of working in a fast-moving, people-focussed industry, including pressure, stress and burnout.
For CTT, the purpose goes beyond simply promoting tourism jobs. It aims to help young people see tourism as an industry where they can intentionally build a career, develop valuable skills, or start a business.
Enver Duminy, CEO of Cape Town Tourism, says: “Too many young people still see tourism as something you fall into when other plans don’t work out. We need to change that, because this industry needs people with skills in technology, data, marketing, finance, events and entrepreneurship, as well as traditional hospitality.”
“We’re not going into schools to sell learners a dream. We’re giving them an honest view of the opportunities, the challenges and the different ways they can get started. I want every learner to leave thinking: ‘There could be a place for me in this industry, and I now know what my next step could be.’”
James Vos, City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth and Tourism, says the industry has a responsibility to make sure young people can see where they fit into Cape Town’s growing tourism economy: “Tourism creates opportunities across a wide range of skills and career paths, but those opportunities need to be visible to young people if we want them to take advantage of them. That means going into communities and schools to show learners what the industry looks like beyond the traditional picture of hotels and travel agencies.”
“The City supports initiatives such as the Future Leaders Workshop because they connect young people directly with the people and businesses driving Cape Town’s tourism economy. If we want tourism growth to be inclusive, our young people must be part of that future.”
The Future Leaders programme forms part of CTT’s broader Tourism Month focus on widening active participation in the visitor economy. CTT is s also exploring how technology can create new opportunities through its Digital Innovation Challenge. The challenge invites tourism students to consider how AI and other digital tools could help reshape the visitor experience and help tourism businesses work more effectively.
Technology is already changing how visitors discover, book and experience destinations. This is increasing demand for people who can combine digital capabilities with distinctly human abilities such as creativity, empathy, judgement, communication and problem-solving.
“Artificial intelligence will change tourism, but it will not remove the need for people,” Duminy added. “The young people who learn how to use technology while remaining curious, creative and human will have a real advantage.”
CTT plans to continue taking the Future Leaders programme into schools across Cape Town, particularly in communities where learners may have had limited exposure to the formal tourism economy.
The longer-term ambition is to strengthen the pathway between schools and the sector, equipping learners with the knowledge, confidence and industry connections to pursue further study, enter learnerships or employment, or eventually start their own tourism businesses.
