Youthful change for Toti’s tourism reins

“As I have made a conscious decision to go into full-time study, our committee recognised Jacques as the best man for the chairmanship,” said outgoing chairman, Kim McCarthy.
“His passion for our region, combined with an experienced marketing background and gregarious personality, makes him the perfect choice to lead our team. Kim agreed to a low profile as vice-chairman and mentor, but she will remain chairman of the Amanzimtoti Accommodation Association.
The rest of the new committee is made up of: Pieter Taljaardt of Galleria Steers Fishaways as treasurer, Michelle Lowes of Mocarmi Travel is secretary, and members are Craig Thompson of Sapphire Coast Shuttles and Garth Lamprecht of Lords and Legends.
The nomination makes Jacques the youngest chairman in the history of the committee and across eThekwini’s borders. He has been involved in the local tourism committee on and off over the past 10 years. “Over the years, the chairmen have played an intricate roll, and I believe we need to acknowledge them,” said Jacques. “My predecessor and mentor, Kim McCarthy, has laid the foundation for this community tourism organisation. Kim has given many thankless hours of her time, and I acknowledge her for the groundwork she has done.
I am honoured to be nominated as chairman, and to be part of the most exciting three to five years ahead that Amanzimtoti and surrounds will ever experience. I acknowledge that there will be challenges ahead; my focus is to find the solution to these challenges, to ensure the best outcome.
One of the areas we will focus on is to establish six tourism channels within our means. These are activities tourism, business tourism, retired tourism, medical tourism, educational tourism and cultural tourism.
Crime needs to be the centre of our attention. The negative publicity that is fed outside our province is one of the factors affecting tourism.
A membership drive also needs to be done to increase our numbers, encouraging community volunteering and changing the mindset from thinking of ourselves as the underdogs to front-runners on our coastline.
We would also like to assist tourism business members in our area to apply for signage permits within the correct channels.”