Radio DJ, Business Owner, Tourism Enthusiast, SATSA Co-Vice Chair, SATSA Easter Cape Chapter Chair... and now proudly SATSA's 2023 Conference Facilitator!

Mandisa Magwaxaza serves on the Board of Directors of SATSA. She is the Founder and owner of Molo Mhambi Relations, and Woman Xplore - a travel expo showcasing female-owned tourism products, launching in August 2022.

Mandisa is from Gqeberha in Nelson Mandela Bay, Eastern Cape. She is energised by making change happen! Her lifelong goal is to see the South African tourism industry give access through knowledge to those who have not learned about it, include those who have been historically excluded from it, and diversify its reach and representation. Mandisa’s work with township tourism businesses and championing of the SA domestic market placed her on SATSA’s radar as a promising young, African women with the potential to lead.

In 2020, Mandisa became a member of the Board and the Chairperson of SATSA’s Eastern Cape Chapter. Mandisa is a creative who thrives on connecting with people and helping them connect with the opportunities they need to shine. Mandisa’s has 15 years of experience in the tourism industry, and has worked at the likes of Lalibela, Pumba Private Game Reserve, Cape Grace, Steenberg, Booking.com and Mantis Collection.

Her hospitality and tourism experience backs up her creative skills as a writer and marketing strategist; making the winning recipe for Molo Mhambi Relations; her Tourism PR & Marketing agency.

Mr. Ikaneng “Oupa” Pilane, a Wits Masters graduate, is an entrepreneur, tourism development consultant, local government specialist, and business coach, who is intently focused on organisational, personal, tourism and business development.

Formally the first spokesperson of former Premier of Mpumalanga Province, Dr. Mathews Phosa, Oupa has spent most of his career in the public sector responsible for municipal interventions, developing turn around strategies for struggling municipalities and integrated development planning.

Oupa is the Co-founder, Director and Developer of the Graskop Gorge Lift Attraction, the latest and most innovative nature based tourism adventure centre in Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Director of Bakgatla Tourism and Municipal Solutions consulting services.

He sits as a member of the Ehlanzeni and Nkangala District Development Model focusing on tourism development.

He is a board member of the Nkangala Economic Developer Agency

Oupa is also the National Co - Chairperson Of SATSA, Chairperson of the Kruger Lowveld Tourism and sits in the Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business & Tourism as a board member.

David Frost is CEO of SATSA. David has 25 years’ experience at an executive level in tourism strategy. An economist by training, he worked for the COSATU trade union movement prior to joining The Premier Group in 1994, where he ended up as head of Corporate Strategy. He was seconded as Special Advisor on Tourism to Ministers Jordan and Moosa by the Business Trust.

He then joined Tourvest in 1998 and was MD of the Inbound Division. David established his own bespoke consultancy – the Tourism Strategy Company in 2001 and has consulted widely to leading private sector companies as well as developed destination strategies for a number of SADC countries. He has been at the helm at SATSA since September 2013.

Peter Shelley is a long-term contributor to the development of the Australian tourism industry with more than 30 years’ experience in industry development, business development and tourism association management.

Peter is recognised for his innovative approach displayed via his own business pursuits as well as through leadership roles within state and national tourism industry organisations. He is committed to the continued improvement and global competitiveness of the Australian tourism industry.

Peter’s current role as ATEC Managing Director involves fostering growth opportunities and actively working to reduce impediments impacting on Australia’s tourism export sector, with a specific focus on the effectiveness of the trade distribution channels.

Lynda Keene is the Chief Executive of the Tourism Export Council of New Zealand, the leading private sector industry voice on international tourism.

Lynda has 40 years’ experience in tourism across a range of sectors including inbound, hotels, marketing, education and consulting work in Vietnam, Cook Islands and South Asia.

Peter Dros joins the team at Cheetah Plains with considerable experience in the safari industry growing and developing luxury tourism brands.

Peter is the chairman of the SATSA Board Marketing Committee providing overall marketing and sales initiatives. Prior to this new role, Peter held positions as Sales and Marketing Director at Fancourt South Africa and Sanctuary Retreats. He also worked for over a decade at Mala Mala Game Reserve.

Martin Wiest started out as a bus driver in 1987 and worked his way up to an office job and eventually took up the position of CEO of Tourvest Inbound Operations and a member of the Tourvest Holdings (Pty) Ltd executive committee in January 2009.

Martin comes from a strong marketing and sales background so when he was appointed COO in 2006 he did a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration, amongst other courses, to gain financial experience.

He has been in the tourism industry for 25 years, having worked at Welcome Tourism Services from 1988 until his appointment at Tourvest, and has extensive experience in general management and business development.

Jerry Mabena is an entrepreneurial business executive with vast experience in the marketing and property management sectors.

As the former CEO of Thebe Services, Jerry was responsible for managing a portfolio of subsidiaries and associate Thebe Investment Corporation companies that are service-centred, ranging from financial, tourism, as well as media, energy (petroleum services) and property management.

He has a degree in industrial psychology and economics from Rhodes University. He also holds a diploma in project management from Damelin and a certificate program in accounting and finance from Wits Business School.

Jerry has held various senior positions in companies such as Unilever, J Walter Thompson, Ucingo Marketing, and Kagiso Exhibitions and Events. Before joining Thebe in 2011, he was the CEO of Kagiso Property Holding, which was behind prime developments such as Willowbridge Lifestyle Centre in Cape Town; the Vaal Shopping Mall in Vanderbijlpark; the South African Revenue Service Assessment & Enforcement Facility in Alberton; and the head of JSE-listed company, Tiger Brands, in Johannesburg.

Lindelwa has over 20 years experience in the Travel and Tourism industry and has worked in various sectors of the industry including Tourism Marketing Bodies, International Convention Centre and is now the Sales & Revenue Director for Southern Sun. She has held various positions in the company including Head of Sales, Executive Marketing Manager and was also the GM of Sales & Marketing at the Sandton Convention Centre. Her strength and expertise is in the Business Development, Relationship Management, Revenue generation as well as Marketing areas.

A Chartered Accountant by profession, Maija qualified with PwC in London. After close to six years with PwC, mainly spent in Advisory (Transaction Services), Maija felt the time was right to leverage her advisory experience in an entrepreneurial emerging company environment where she headed up Travelstarts’ International Markets. Maija was responsible for managing and executing the company’s global expansion plans and overseeing all markets ex SA.

Using her ops experience coupled with her passion for helping emerging businesses grow, Maija rejoined PwC to set-up and roll out the PwC Accelerator for 18 months after which she was approached for her role at Go2Africa. A serendipitous landing back into the travel industry - one which she is very grateful for.

Maija has been a Director at Go2Africa since March 2016.

Monika has a deep understanding of the Southern African tourism industry and strong relationships both locally and internationally.

Her experience includes working for outbound tour operators in Germany and boutique DMCs in Johannesburg, as well as holding senior positions at Tourvest Destination Management and SA Tourism.

Monika successfully led Private Safaris as CEO, and now serves as Chief Destination Marketing Officer at Wesgro, promoting Cape Town and the Western Cape as a top-tier destination for leisure, business, and investment.

Lee-Anne Singer is the Marketing and Sales Director at Singer Group, a prominent hospitality and travel company with almost 60 years of experience. With over 27 years in the industry, Lee-Anne focuses on developing new business opportunities and partnerships, managing sales and marketing for eleven different brands.

She is also a strong advocate for service, currently serving as Chairperson for FEDHASA Cape, sitting on the Cape Town Tourism board, and holding other roles in the tourism and communications sectors. Lee-Anne has spoken at international conferences and is a proud parent of three children.

Neeshan Balton, has been the Executive Director of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation since its inception in 2008. He has been a community and political activist for the past 40 years with involvement ranging from teacher unionism, civic and sport organising, youth activism and formal and underground ANC activism; and was an activist in the Transvaal Indian Congress and United Democratic Front.

Neeshan served as a city councillor in the Johannesburg Metro from 1995 – 1997, as Chairperson on the board of directors at the Matthew Goniwe School of leadership and Governance, and on the board of the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (GGDA).

He previously worked in the public sector in Gauteng at the Office of the Premier, the Department of Local Government and Education. Neeshan has BA. Bed, MSC (Public management and finance). He currently chairs the board of the drug wellness and recovery centre - SANCA/Nishtara- Lenasia, and is also a board member of the South African Forestry company (SAFCOL).

Joan Shaw is the Tourism Manager for George Municipality and was previously the CEO of the George Tourism Association before it was incorporated.

Promoting the Garden Route for 20 years, she has worked as CEO at Oudtshoorn Tourism, Revenue Manager at Fancourt and as Tourism Development Consultant in Mozambique and is a founding member of the Garden Route JMO.

David King completed his studies in 2001 at Stellenbosch University He worked for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pretoria as a transport and logistics researcher for eight years.

From 2011 to 2016 David was employed as a project manager and transport specialist for GAIN Group based in Stellenbosch. Since October 2016, David is a project manager for Cape Town Air Access based at Wesgro. The main goal of the project is to intensify and broaden Western Cape air access to international markets.

Jon Howell is the CEO and Founder of AviaDev, a division of The Bench.

Since its inception in 2015, AviaDev Africa is now established as the premier platform dedicated to growing air connectivity to, from, and within the African continent, delivering content and events year-round.

Jon established AviaDev Insight Africa, the only podcast dedicated to African aviation in 2018. To date, the podcast has over 85,000 listeners in 185 countries globally and over 200 episodes to its name.

Jon is passionate about empowering the next generation of aviators. He was appointed as a Visiting Professor at Coventry University in March 2022 and regularly delivers lectures to Undergraduate and postgraduate aviation management students.

AviaDev has also delivered multiple live and virtual outreach events across the African continent.

Jon was also appointed a Global Ambassador for Gorilla Conservation for his fundraising efforts which include climbing the three largest mountains in the UK in a single weekend wearing a gorilla suit.

Natalia Rosa is the CEO of Big Ambitions, a specialist travel and tourism communications and marketing organisation in tourism and travel.

Exceptionally well-connected within the tourism and travel sectors in South Africa, Natalia is a communications, marketing and PR expert in the industry.

With his Bachelor of Commerce in Business Information Services and three decades of expertise gathered in the Manufacturing, Logistics, Information Technology and Travel and Tourism sectors, Leigh Ingle is a regional business leadership professional, who owns a unique blend of well-versed technology and commercial gen that drives sustained profitability, portfolio growth and customer service confidence.

At the helm of African regional business for international tourism technology firm, Tourplan headquartered in Christchurch (NZ) for the last 20 years, Leigh is a proven industry thought leader and technical expert, with specialist insights into the African continent and Indian Ocean Island territories – including the sovereign nations of Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles.

A recognised South African technology training standards and curriculum designer, Leigh is agile in spot-on analysis and translation of commercial customer requirements into jointly rewarding, globally leading IT product and service solutions

He is an integral contributor to his firm’s continued enhancement of its cornerstone Tourplan offering – a comprehensive scalable, power- and performance-built software solution for quoting and operating fully independent tours (FITs), group, tailor-made, scheduled and series tours, specialist sports, adventure, safari, eco, educational and cultural tours, also used to plan, book and facilitate conferences, seminars, and events, as well as meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE).

CEO of An African Anthology for the last 23 years and has been involved in the development, sales, marketing and operations of luxury game lodges and hotels during this time.

Chris has been instrumental in the development of over 10 iconic lodges and hotels in South Africa, Botswana, and Zanzibar.

Strong trade relationships and relationships with the trade have been the backbone of success for Chris and his company.

Phaka is a seasoned strategist, and a hands-on operational lead with vast experience in the implementation of strategic change initiatives in Africa and Asia. She has over five years operational presence in the African travel market, and 7 years in change management and digital transformation consultation.

The recipient of various awards and scholarships, Phaka was in 2020 named one of the most Inspiring Women in Travel, by Travel Massive, in 2019 she was named one of the Top 100 Young South African’s by the Mail and Guardian, and the top 25 Trailblazers in Tourism by the same publication. In 2010, Phaka was awarded a Chinese Government Scholarship and subsequently spent 3 years in Shanghai, China. Phaka completed her MSc International Business and Finance through a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship in the United Kingdom 2006. In 2005, Phaka was named one of the Brightest Young Minds in South Africa.

Phaka is passionate about Innovation, Access, Inclusivity and Diversity in African tourism.

Abby Jacobs holds a Master of Commerce in Business and Economic Sciences, specializing in Destination Marketing. She is also in the process of completing her second Masters, a Master of Business Administration through Wits Business School. Abby’s other qualifications include a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing and Psychology, a Bachelor of Commerce in Business and Economic Sciences with Honours, a diploma in tourism management, and Abby is also a qualified Design Thinking facilitator obtained through GIBS Business School.

She has over 18 years of tourism industry experience, with the predominance of that experience being in the destination marketing space.

Her experience ranges from working for one of the largest South African-based Destination Management Companies (DMCs) focusing on the inbound tour operating environment, outbound sales for travel in and around East and West Africa as well as in retail, targeting domestic tourists for South and Southern Africa. Additionally, she has worked with one of the biggest online travel agencies (OTAs) globally.

She has been with South African Tourism since 2010, where she fulfilled various roles, most notably those of Assistant Manager: International Marketing, Marketing and Promotions
Manager: Nordics, Acting Head: Global Trade, Marketing and Communications Manager: North Europe and most recently she occupies the position of Acting Hub Head: North Europe (Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden).

Rachel Nxele is a diversly experienced individual with a passion for people, travel and sustainability.

With a background in Tourism and Conservation, Rachel brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the conversation on transformation, sustainable business practices, and stakeholder engagement in the tourism industry.

As a thought leader, Rachel offers unique insights and practical solutions to help organizations achieve their sustainability goals.

Lisa Scriven manages Fair Trade Tourism – the South African-based non-profit dedicated to providing technical support, certification, and market access for responsible tourism. FTT’s logo is “The Mark of a Good Holiday” defined by fair wages and working conditions, fair purchasing and operations, equitable distribution of benefits, and respect for human rights, culture, and the environment.

Bronwen Auret is the Chief Quality Assurance Officer for South African Tourism and leads the quality assurance team for South African Tourism. Ensuring quality assurance is key to delivering on traveller’s expectations and enhancing the customer experience. The Quality Assurance team at SA Tourism is responsible for the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa (TGCSA) and Visitor Experience.

The Tourism Grading Council of South Africa (TGCSA) was established in 2000. Operating as a South African Tourism business unit, the TGCSA is still the only recognised and globally credible quality assurance body for tourism products in South Africa.
.
There are seven main categories of establishments that travelers can choose from such as Formal Accommodation (Hotel, Apartment Hotel, Boutique Hotel, Small Hotel), Guest Accommodation (Bed & Breakfasts, Country Houses, Guest Houses), Self-Catering Accommodation (Exclusive, Shared), Game Lodge, Nature Lodge, Backpackers & Hostels, Caravan & Camping Sites and Venues. These establishments are graded by our Accredited Assessors and display the TGCSA Star insignia. The consumer can expect outstanding quality and service excellence if the product bears the TGCSA star plaque and certificate.

Bronwen has been with South African Tourism since 2018 and previously held the GM: Brand & Marketing position. She is a seasoned business leader and is obsessed with business problems and finding smart strategic business solutions.

Arlene Wilson-Max has dedicated 20 years working towards the development of businesses throughout all sectors of industry. With a vast experience in sourcing products and setting up business linkages, Arlene has facilitated incoming and outgoing trade missions into a number of African Countries. As the former Executive Officer of the FEDHSA Inland Region, she is well versed with the Tourism Industry.

She is currently the Stakeholder Relations Executive at the BEE Chamber responsible for the promotion of Sustainable Transformational B-BBEE and a Director at the Skills Village where she heads up Enterprise and Supplier Development Initiatives and Socio-Economic Development Initiatives.

Akash Singh is a registered Chartered Accountant with an MBA in Strategic Planning. He is the CEO and Co-Founder of Sigma International, a global impact company specializing in enterprise development, incubation, and innovation with offices in South Africa and the USA.

Akash served as President of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry from April 2013 to May 2015. Prior to Sigma International, he held General Manager positions at Nedcor Banking Group, BoE Bank, and NBS.

Akash's expertise lies in enterprise development, business strategy, mentoring, commercial skills, and capital restructuring. He has trained, mentored, and impacted over 5,000 small, medium, and large businesses and facilitated over 800 global business scholarships for African businesses.

Akash currently chairs the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) Eastern Region Council and sits on the National Council of SAICA.

Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa is the Chief Executive Officer at the Tourism Business Council of South Africa with 20 years’ experience in the International Marketing, Business Development, International Trade Relations, and Leadership among others in Tourism.

Tshifhiwa has worked for various companies in the tourism value chain including South African Tourism, Myriad Marketing, FEDHASA, Rennies Travel, SARS and others. He has also consulted for various companies focusing on projects development, marketing management, travel and events management, and communications.

He has also served as a member of Tourism Transformation Council, Tourism Grading Council of South Africa, and currently serves on the global Board of Advisors for “The Sigmund Project” which supports innovation and collaboration in Tourism across the globe.

Tshifhiwa holds a MSc in International Business, Leadership, and Management with University of York, Bachelor Business Administration on Marketing Communications, Diploma in Marketing (Institute of Marketing Management) and a National Diploma in Tourism Management (University of Johannesburg).

Nomasonto Ndlovu is South African Tourism’s (SA Tourism) Chief Operations Officer. She was recently employed by Transnet in the capacity of Executive Manager: Tourism, Heritage and Hospitality, a role she has occupied since November 2020 where she was responsible for heading up the newly established Tourism, Heritage & Hospitality Business unit. She left Transnet at the end of June 2022.

Prior to joining Transnet, Nomasonto was at the helm of the Limpopo Tourism Agency in the position of Chief Executive Officer. She has held various other leadership positions in the tourism sector including her role as Global Manager: Business Tourism when she was previously at SA Tourism between 2008 and 2012, before joining the City of Tshwane as Strategic Executive Director Communications, Marketing & Events.

She is a seasoned Marketing and Tourism Expert with a diverse experience gained from both private and public sector organisations including Unilever, Standard Bank, KwaZulu-Natal Tourism Authority. She has gained extensive experience in Marketing Operations, Brand Management, Communications, Stakeholder Management and Media Relations.

A well-respected public speaker, content creator and opinion leader in the tourism industry, Nomasonto also mentors young upcoming tourism professionals.

Ian Utermohlen joined South African Tourism (SA Tourism) in 2007 as Global Manager for Marketing and Advertising. As Global Manager his responsibilities included developing the global marketing and advertising strategy, maintaining consistency in the application and execution of Brand South Africa’s Brand Identity and leading and managing global media partners across the globe.

Ian’s experience in marketing spans over 27 years.
His career began in 1990 at Nestle South Africa (Pty) Ltd. He spent over a decade (1990 to 2004) in various sales and marketing positions and in 2003 he was awarded the Nestle Divisional Employee of the Year. In 2004 he became Marketing Manager at the Gillette Group South Africa where he was responsible for generating long-term Brand strategies to achieve Brand profitability and Brand Health objectives. In 2005 Procter and Gamble acquired the Gillette Group and Ian assumed responsibility for Oral B and Duracell in West and East Africa.
In 2017, Ian was appointed as the Regional General Manager for Europe at SA Tourism. Europe is comprised of four Hubs and 12 key markets.

Ian’s role is driving our brand and marketing strategies, collaborating with key stakeholders, localization of regional strategies and the implementation of the Europe Marketing Business Strategy.

New Frontiers Tours is a full-service Inbound Tour Operator offering exceptional expertise and on the ground support for travel to Southern Africa.

Having joined the company in 2005, CEO Faith Johnson has been intimately involved in all aspects of the business, from consulting, sales, product, and operations and is supported by a passionate and knowledgeable team, with a love for Africa, it’s people and its places.

Glenn is a born and bred Capetonian, he started by chance in the tourism industry at the age of 21 as a marketing student- intern with Springbok Atlas, and from there developed his career within the company.

As current CEO he heads up a company which was formed in 1946, and today he still travels regularly to key source markets sharing Southern African experiences with people around the world.

Glenn has been in the Travel Industry (and with Springbok Atlas Tours & Safaris) for the past 36 years, and his passion truly lies with travel and no other career or industry has been worth pursuing.

Sabine Blehle is a seasoned leader in the tourism industry, boasting 32 years of experience across various fields.

As the current CEO of GoVacation Africa, a Joint Venture between Dertouristik and Tourvest, Sabine brings a wealth of expertise to her role.

GoVacation Africa is a full-service destination management company that focuses on inbound travel to Africa.

After building ziplines in the rainforests of Costa Rica, Mark returned home and built the first treetop zipline and platform tour in Africa in the Tsitsikamma forest in 2001, and with it the establishment of the Canopy Tour ® brand. There are now 7 official Canopy Tours at prime nature sites across Southern Africa.

In 2015, he co-founded Chimp & Zee, which is focused on urban aerial adventure experiences like rope adventure parks, big swings and ziplines. Chimp & Zee now has several such rope parks and attractions at tourism venues right across Africa and continues to develop new adventure products for this growing sector of the tourism industry.

Mark is the current Chairman of ARCA, the African Ropes Course Association, which was set up several years ago to help create a viable self-regulation body and safe working standards for the aerial adventure industry in Africa.

Quintin grew up in the foothills of the Drakensberg Mountains, and moved to the Cape in the early 2000's, to complete an honours degree in Business Science at UCT.

Having spent almost 20 years cutting his teeth in travel and tourism, Quintin now co-owns and heads up Cape Adventure Brands - a multifaceted adventure tour operator based out of Cape Town, South Africa.

Andre's career has seen him pioneering tour operations in KZN, opening award winning lodges and concessions, guiding clients in the bush and across the French Alps. His work and leisure travels have taken him to 4 continents and over 50 countries.

The risks encountered in these varied environments and an understanding that risk management was a vital pillar that supports our wildlife economy, has driven Andre’s focus on managing risk in this niche market.

Andre has spent the last 15 years collaborating with the industry, connecting with insurers and incident management experts to create innovative and bespoke solutions for the tourism and conservation sectors.

Andre is currently the Executive Head of New Business Development for the first Equity Insurance Group and Director at SATIB Insurance Brokers. Andre chairs the SATSA Adventure Chapter, SATSA Safety & Security Committee and leads a team modelling risk and legalities in the Self-regulation of Adventure Tourism.

Andre lives in KZN, is married with two teenage boys. He is a keen birdwatcher, ultra-distance trail runner and loves nothing more than good wine and company around a campfire!

Julia Louw is Head of Leisure Tourism for the DMO unit at Wesgro. She has strong commercial and business acumen.

Julia has been working in the tourism industry for the past 19 years, starting within the MICE industry and then to grow into a GM position for an inbound DMC. She also served on the SATSA National Board in her capacity as SATSA Western Cape Committee Chair.

Now working in the public sector, her mandate is tourism promotion, which in turn builds the economy and creates jobs. Through the collective tourism community, her aim is to be impactful in bettering the lives for all within South Africa and driving the tourism sectors growth.

Chris joined ATTA® as COO in January 2017 after previously spending 10 years living in Cape Town running the Cape Town office for long time ATTA® member Acacia Adventure Holidays.

Chris took over as CEO on 01 January 2018

Chris has spent all his career involved with African Tourism and has a deep seated passion for the continent having traveled extensively including overland from London to South Africa with extended periods of time in Tanzania.

Chris' experience covers all aspects from reservations, sales and marketing to operations and product development.

After running ATTA® as CEO from January 2018 to September 2020 Chris took over as Managing Director of Experience Africa Events and takes over the responsibility for all of ATTA®'s events including trade shows, networking event and the flagship Experience Africa held in London in June

George Mothema has a strong commercial legal background and comes with a wealth of aviation experience. Among other positions he has previously held are Chairman of Board of Directors of the South African Postal Services and Post Bank, an Executive at SAA and Chairperson of SA Express. He is currently the Chairman of Aviation Co-ordination Services (ACS); and is also a member of the BRICS Aviation Task Team and a non-executive director of Afribiz Invest, an infrastructure-building company.

Shama Nathoo is the Founding Member of Universal Accessibility Hub trading as Universal Accessibility Tourism Association (UATA), a former Board Member of the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa, a Public-Private Strategist, Brand Champion and a Coach.

For over 25 years she has helped identify strategic opportunities that create a meaningful change in organisations through open dialogue and creativity.

Her interest in Universal Access grew and inspired by the late Ma Beatrice Ngcobo who was the Chairperson of the Parliament Tourism Portfolio Committee in South Africa and her own adjustment to living with a disabling illness.

Shama met Ma Beatrice in May 2014, whilst serving the then Minister of Tourism, Derek Hanekom. Ma Beatrice was known to many as a strong figure driving issues of accessibility across many sectors. The wise words remain with Shama when she reached Ma Beatrice with only a few drops of water from the Sacred Isivivane at Freedom Park, ‘it’s not how much water you bring me, but your intention to bring it and let me share in the experience’.

Shama tragically lost her husband during the Mossel Bay Sailing Race but continues her late husband’s legacy in transforming the sector to become for inclusive. She serves on the General Committee at Royal Cape Yacht Club.

Gillian advises public and private clients in the tourism and hospitality industries throughout Africa, and she was Special Advisor to the Tourism Minister; Minister Derek Hanekom, from 2018 to 2019.

Gillian was Deputy CEO of Audit and Advisory Firm, Grant Thornton in Johannesburg, and headed their Advisory Services in South Africa. She had a 30-year career consulting with the firm.
Previously she worked in the hotel and catering industries in the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland and South Africa.

She holds a BSc Hotel Catering and Tourism Administration (Surrey 1981) and an MBA (Wits 1988 cum Laude).

Michael Tollman holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Cape Town and is a South African Chartered Accountant. He has held the role of Group CEO of Cullinan
Holdings Ltd since 2008, a company comprised of 25 businesses listed on the Johannesburg Stock exchange since 1903 until the Group delisted in March 2018.

Cullinan Holdings Ltd is the leader in the tourism services sector in Southern Africa and offers coach and vehicle transportation, inbound and outbound tour operations, corporate and retail travel services, meeting and incentives, sporting events, financial services and marine and other leisure services.

Michael was also Vice Chairman of Wilderness Holdings Ltd and a director of the Wilderness Group from 1995 until 2018. The Wilderness Safaris Group is a leading safari company in Southern Africa comprising 50 lodges. Michael is also a director of The Travel Corporation Ltd, a globally respected and leading tourism group operating 30 leading brands in over 60 countries with 35 offices located around the world.

Michael has worked in various roles in the Travel Corporation since 1989. He is also a director of a number of other companies in Southern Africa, including Bouchard Finlayson Wine Estate and the Red Carnation hotels Group (South Africa)

Hannelie Du Toit joined the SATSA team in February 2015 and has played an instrumental role in developing and steering various important projects including the Open Safari Vehicle (OSV) Self-Regulation, Adventure Tourism Self-Regulation, and SME Market Access projects. She furthermore took on responsibilities to drive transformation and provide guidance to members and industry on the newly implemented transport Operating License regulations. Hannelie was promoted to COO in January 2017.

She has a proven track record of over 23 years of experience in tourism, marketing, and economic development and as a result, an in-depth understanding of the industry and its needs.

She started her tourism career in 1994 at Hungwe Tours and Safaris and spent six years at a senior executive level at the Tourism Enterprise Partnership.

Throughout her career, Hannelie has served on various committees and boards including as a FEDHASA Board Member (2011 – 2013) and as a member of the National Tourism Planning and Co-ordinating Forum.

She is described as a passionate individual who knows to ‘get things done’. Before her culture, her race, or her gender, Hannelie is firstly a proud South African.