It was a privilege to be part of the Western Cape Tourist Guide Conference 2026, held on 3–4 September in Saldanha Bay. The conference brought together tourist guides from across the province for two days of learning, connection and conversations about the future of guiding.
The programme covered an exciting range of topics, including tourism performance trends, AI readiness and AI tools for guides, updates from the Provincial Registrar, night-sky tourism, botanical tourism and the Cape Floristic Region, rock art tourism, marketing, trade networking and new market opportunities.
My talk focused on an opportunity that I believe is increasingly important: tourist guides can use their guiding credentials as a bridge towards enterprise development. Guides are uniquely positioned. They understand their destinations, their communities, their stories and, importantly, what visitors are looking for. As global travellers increasingly seek authentic experiences that let them connect with places and communities in a more meaningful way—to feel like locals, rather than simply visit as tourists—guides are ideally placed to develop and own those experiences.
This creates an opportunity to move beyond guiding as a service and towards experience entrepreneurship: developing authentic cultural, heritage, food, nature and community experiences; building their own enterprises; and contributing directly to the growth of the local experience economy.
One of the highlights of the conference was undoubtedly the networking. It was fantastic to reconnect with guides who have participated in various Cause Development Agency programmes across the Western Cape, while also meeting many new guides who are interested in joining our growth initiatives. Special shout-out to Louine Boothway-Le Roux, Thato Mpande and Francois Williams.
The conversations reinforced something we see every day through our work: when we invest in guides, we are not only strengthening the guiding profession — we are creating pathways into entrepreneurship, market access and more inclusive local tourism economies.
A big thank you to Jacques Stoltz, Hantie Nelson and the Western Cape Government team for making the conference a valuable platform for learning, collaboration and new possibilities for the Western Cape guiding community.
#WCTGConference2026 #ForTheLoveofTourism #TouristGuides #WesternCapeTourism #ExperienceEconomy #TourismEntrepreneurship
