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  • 2025 Faculty

2025 Faculty

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DIRECTOR, AFRICA, UN TOURISM

Elcia Grandcourt

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CEO OF GHANA TOURISM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD.

Prof. Kobby Mensah

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REGIONAL DIRECTOR: AFRICA, ICCA (INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS AND CONVENTION ASSOCIATION), RWANDA

Frank Murangwa

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PRESIDENT, ADVANTAGE CONSULTANTS GROUP, PORTUGAL

Dr. Linda Pereira

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INDEPENDENT BUSINESS EVENTS PROFESSIONAL & CONSULTANT

Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo

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CMP & ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA, SOUTH AFRICA

Prof. Nellie Swart

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EXECUTIVE WANDILE MABASO GROUP & FORMER MANAGING DIRECTOR, MICHELIN TYRES, SOUTH AFRICA

Marcus Baffoe-Bonnie

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CEO, JOHANNESBURG EXPO CENTRE & RAND SHOW, SOUTH AFRICA

Adele Hartdegen

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DIRECTOR, BDO SOUTH AFRICA

Lee-Anne Bac

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DIRECTOR, BDO, SOUTH AFRICA

Christelle Grohmann

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CEO, AFRICA TOURISM PARTNERS, SOUTH AFRICA

Kwakye Donkor

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CEO, EVENT SYNTHESIS INTERNATIONAL, SOUTH AFRICA

Angelique Smith

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VICE PRESIDENT OPERATIONS | REGIONAL HEAD AFRICA & INDIAN OCEAN, SOUTH AFRICA

Andreas Lackner

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CHAIR OF SACIA'S CEPA COUNCIL (COUNCIL OF EVENT PROFESSIONALS AFRICA) & CEO, WE ARE EVENTS

Rudi van der Vyver

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HEAD: BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & SUPPORT SERVICES, SOUTH AFRICAN TOURISM

Bongiwe Nzeku

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PRESIDENT SITE AFRICA, FOUNDER CRYSTAL EVENTS AFRICA, TRAINER, MODERATOR, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY CONSULTANT

Tes Proos

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CHAIR OF SACIA'S CEPA COUNCIL (COUNCIL OF EVENT PROFESSIONALS AFRICA) & CEO, WE ARE EVENTS

Rudi van der Vyver

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HEAD: BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & SUPPORT SERVICES, SOUTH AFRICAN TOURISM

Bongiwe Nzeku

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DIRECTOR, REGIONAL DEPARTMENT FOR AFRICA, UNWTO, SPAIN

Elcia Grandcourt

Originally from the Seychelles, Elcia Grandcourt joined the World Tourism Organisation, a United Nations specialised Agency for Tourism in 2013 as Director, of the Regional Department for Africa. Elcia began her tourism career studying Hotel Management in Singapore at the Singapore Hotel Association and Education Centre (SHATEC). Thereafter, she occupied various positions in operations, reservations and sales mainly in hotels, including leading international brands such as Le Meridien and Hilton Worldwide Resorts. She was part of the rebranding team when Hilton Worldwide Resorts took over the management of the then Northolme hotel in Seychelles. She worked with the Seychelles national airline and destination management companies before joining the public sector to Seychelles Tourism Board as deputy CEO before being promoted to Chief Executive Officer, a position she occupied prior to joining UNWTO. Passionate about tourism, Elcia is honoured to be able to contribute towards sustainable tourism development in Africa.

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CEO OF GHANA TOURISM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD.

Prof. Kobby Mensah

Kobby Mensah is the Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Development Company Ltd (GTDC), the commercial arm of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts of Ghana. Kobby is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship, University of Ghana Business School. His areas of expertise include Tourism Marketing and Political Marketing. Kobby serves as the Coordinator for the Marketing and Communications unit of UGBS and has been in this position for close to 10 years, managing and maintaining a strong UGBS brand.

 

Kobby’s agility in introducing new ways of doing things led to the establishment of the Destination Legon Tourism Marketing Exhibition project in 2013 and pioneered virtual tourism in Ghana. Destination Legon is a practice-based part of the Hospitality and Tourism Marketing course and challenges students to practically conceptualise and market destinations, attractions and tourism-related products and services to meet demands. Currently in its 10th edition, the last edition held tasked students to use digital channels such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to effectively make a prospective tourist arrival ‘consume’ the destination/attraction before they eventually participate in them physically, creating a sense of tourism product and service trials, and therefore offering an augmented experience. Kobby Mensah is one of the leading academic voices in Tourism. He recently spoke on Technology and MICE at the just-ended Meetings Africa in Johannesburg. Previous platforms are the African Tourism Leadership Forum (ATLF), South Africa, Ghana Economic Forum, Accra. Kobby has been a regular resource to Brand South Africa and the University of South Africa (UNISA), offering insight on Pan African brand identity.

 

Kobby is an ardent follower of innovation and has since created six software solutions under his Ambition Consult Ltd company. Notable amongst his innovations are Focas Customer Services and Queue Management, deployed by Absa Bank, Fidelity Bank, St. John’s Hospital, Finney Hospital and Platinum Bay Hotel; and Admissions Checker, an online-based University Admissions solution for Senior High Secondary School students and Baobab Simulations for teaching and learning.

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REGIONAL DIRECTOR: AFRICA, ICCA (INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS AND CONVENTION ASSOCIATION), RWANDA

Frank Murangwa

Frank Murangwa is currently the Director of Destination Marketing at Rwanda Convention Bureua before this position, he served as the Acting CEO of Rwanda Convention Bureau from January 2016 to November 2017.


Frank’s core mandate is to drive the growth of Rwanda’s MICE industry. He has experience in tourism marketing and tourism quality assurance. Rwanda Convention Bureau is a destination Marketing Organization that is charged with marketing and promoting Rwanda as a premier MICE Destination.

Frank was voted AFRICA’s MICE ICON 2017 by Street of Gold Foundation.

 

Frank has a strong tourism educational background and practical experience in the tourism sector, and has also gained significant expertise in developing strategies for tourism destinations.

Graduated in Tourism Management, his marketing skills are reinforced by a strong tourism background.

 

Frank Murangwa holds a Bachelor of Degree in Tourism Management from Makerere University of Uganda and a Master’s degree (Cum Laude) in Tourism Destination Management from Breda University of Applied Science (NHTV) Netherlands. Frank is fluent in English and Kinyarwanda and is passionate about travelling to different destinations to experience new cultures, explore beautiful sceneries and enjoys sports as well.

Chief Executive Officer, CPL Events, United Kingdom & Cape Verde

Dr. Linda Pereira

Linda Pereira is the senior partner and CEO of the L&I Communications Group. In additionto her long and respected career as one of the most influential voices in the Meeting Industry, she is also Executive Director of CPL Meetings & Events. Respected internationally as a speaker, consultant, strategic communication expert, writer and as an educator, she has been an invited speakerin over 149 countries on all continents.

She is an expert in communication and corporate diplomacy, and has a vast experience in cross-cultural communication strategies, localisation, and public speakingand as a master of ceremonies. She has worked on the major events which marked the last 30 years of modern history, from World EXPOs, to Football and Sports Championships, various EU Presidencies and major political events. She is also an invited lecturer at five different international Universities where she lectures strategic meetings management and corporate diplomacy and protocol.

She is absolutely passionate about associations and sits on a variety of international association boards herself. Linda is also a consultant to a variety of international Governments and associations. She was considered one of Portugal’s five most influential people in the industry and has received various international education awards as well as the medal of honour for responsible entrepreneurship for her commitment to promoting culture and heritage and for Social Responsibility initiatives. She has also been voted business woman of the year for three consecutive years. She sits on various Advisory Boards, and Education Committees and presides over three- She is also the Chair of the Association World Congress for 2022. 


She was president of the Global Council for Women in Leadership for two mandates. She is currently special advisor to the Minister for the Economy of Cape Verde and sits on the Advisory Council for the Leader Magazine and the Venues of Excellence Certification Board. She also sits on the Board of The Portugal-India and Portugal-Holland Chambers of Commerce. She presides the Crossroads platform focused on up-scaling and attracting investment for start-up businesses. She sits on the Portugal Chapter of Women In Tech, a Global Association. She is a business development consultant to the MICE business sector in Saudi Arabia, Croatia, Slovenia, Macau, Georgia, Ghana and Cape Verde.

She is currently a member of the Women’s Africa PCO Alliance. In 2021 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award for the MICE Industry. Linda has recently been elected one of the Global 100 women leaders.
She considers her two daughters as her greatest achievement.

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BUSINESS EVENTS PROFESSIONAL & CONSULTANT

Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo

Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo was appointed in November, 2011 to the position of Chief Convention Bureau Officer at the South African National Convention Bureau (SANCB), a business unit of South African Tourism. In total, she has more than 12 years’ experience in senior management to the SANCB having come to South African Tourism from her position as head of the Conventions Bureau and Events at Cape Town Routes Unlimited (CTRU) where she gained stellar experience in developing and managing competitive, creative bids to win business tourism and other big event bids for that city. Kotze-Nhlapo comes from the Free State and holds a BA in Political Science and BA honours degree in International Political Relations, both from the University of the Free State.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA, SOUTH AFRICA

Prof. Nellie Swart

A skilled, passionate and self-driven Association manager who has spent the last 15 years in senior leadership of national and international membership organisations. Whether designing new projects, managing voluntary Boards, leading lean staff, mobilizing resources, dealing with the media, negotiating with partners and stakeholders or meeting the ever increasing demands of members, i do it with skill, style and stamina.

The end result- transformation.

EXECUTIVE WANDILE MABASO GROUP & FORMER MANAGING DIRECTOR, MICHELIN TYRES, SOUTH AFRICA

Marcus Baffoe-Bonnie

Marcus Baffoe-Bonnie is a seasoned C-Suite level business executive with over thirty years of work experience that spans various continents, most recently as the Managing Director and Vice President for Michelin Sub-Sahara Africa. He has worked and consulted in a variety of industries including event management, media, home appliances, automotive, mining, and fine dining.

After an illustrious corporate career, leading and developing high performing teams in over 50 countries across Africa, North America, Asia, and the Middle East, Baffoe-Bonnie has shifted his focus to unlocking value for small and medium size companies, helping them drive profitable growth, access, and scale across Africa through business advisory, consulting, coaching, capital raising, mentoring and high impact story telling.

Selected by the Obama Foundation Leaders Africa organization, Marcus now serves as one of their 11 Office Advisors in Africa, mentoring thirty hand-picked young leaders. He is a Strategic Advisor for the WM Group [Les Creatifs Fine Dining Restaurant], a Change Management Consultant for Gauteng’s eGovernment and serves on various advisory boards including Active Revision NPC among others.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and a Master of Business Administration from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.



Learn more about Marcus:

https://www.destinyconnect.com/2022/08/why-marcus-chose-africa/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcusbbonnie/

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CEO, JOHANNESBURG EXPO CENTRE & RAND SHOW, SOUTH AFRICA

Adele Hartdegen

Adele is currently serving as the CEO of Dogan Exhibitions as well as the Johannesburg Expo Centre. Her core expertise lies in strategic development, with a strong emphasis on driving sales growth, enhancing brand value, and optimising operational efficiency. She specialises in business turnaround, leveraging her extensive experience in sales, marketing, and operational best practices to deliver measurable results and sustainable success.

She has 17 years C-Level experience in Sales and Marketing across various disciplines with a total of 11 years of dedicated experience in the MICE industry. Originally employed by the GL events group for her Marketing, Bid Management, and Business development expertise in 2014 she has made great strides in establishing her career growth path within the international Group. Adele has a keen interest in the development of the broader MICE sector; she actively pursues opportunities to play a part in developing the industry and enhance its overall economic contribution.

She has served 3 years as the Chairperson of the Young Professionals Forum at EXSA and is currently serving her 3rd term on the board of AAXO. Adele is deeply committed to talent development within the organizations she leads. She prioritizes retaining and nurturing existing talent by aligning individuals with roles that enable them to grow and thrive. Her inclusive leadership style fosters a supportive and “safe” environment where team members feel empowered to contribute ideas, experiment, and apply their skills to drive the company’s success.
DIRECTOR, BDO SOUTH AFRICA

Lee-Anne Bac

Lee-Anne Bac is a Director at BDO Advisory Services Johannesburg with more than 20 years experience consulting to clients in the tourism, hospitality, leisure and property sectors in South Africa and the rest of Africa. Lee-Anne’s consulting experience includes strategic planning, market and financial feasibility studies, financial evaluations, business valuations, economic impact studies, socio-economic impact studies, market research and demand assessments and strategic management consulting.

 

Lee-Anne holds a BSc degree in Microbiology and Zoology from the University of the Witwatersrand and an MBA degree from the University of Cape Town. She joined BDO Advisory Services in 1997 as a Senior Consultant and was appointed as a Director of BDO Advisory Services in September 1999.

 

Lee-Anne is regularly quoted in the printed press about issues relating to the tourism, hospitality and property industries and with regard to women in business and she regularly presents at industry functions, workshops and conferences.

 

Lee-Anne is passionate about the transformative role of tourism in economies and societies. As her commitment to enhancing sustainable tourism, Lee-Anne is a Director of Fair Trade Tourism (FTT).

 

Lee-Anne is a member of the national executive of the Woman’s Property Network in South Africa and was a recipient of the Women’s Property Network “Excellence in Property” award in 2013. She is also a member of SAMRA – the South African Market Research Association.

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DIRECTOR – BDO ADVISORY SERVICES, SOUTH AFRICA

Christelle Grohmann

Christelle has more than 23 years’ consulting experience and carries out and heads project teams for macro research, economic impact assessments, valuations, marketing and organisational strategies, market feasibility studies, financial viability assessments, business case assessments and transaction advisory assignments.

Christelle has also facilitated numerous workshops and large meetings and is proficient in using a range of facilitation approaches and tools.

CEO, AFRICA TOURISM PARTNERS, SOUTH AFRICA

Kwakye Donkor

Kwakye Donkor is the CEO of Africa Tourism Partners (ATP), a Pan African tourism advisory firm and a UNWTO award-winning firm. He is a renowned Pan-African strategist and expert in areas of tourism development, strategic and destination marketing, destination brand management and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibition/Events). He is a recognised and highly respected personality in Africa tourism space, and speaks at global conferences, seminars and think tank fora.

 

Kwakye has demonstrated expertise in destination master planning as well as strategy formulation and execution, business transactional advisory and leadership development worldwide across education, finance, and hotel development. His expertise and experience have earned him the privilege to regularly serve on expert panels and think tank fora facilitated by international organizations including UNWTO, AU, SADC, The World Bank Group, GIZ, BBC, CNBC Africa, Channel Africa, ENCA, SABC and others across Africa.

 

He is the convener of the annual Africa Tourism Leadership Forum & Awards, Africa MICE Masterclass, Africa Youth in Tourism Summit and Africa Women in Tourism Summit series.

CEO, EVENT SYNTHESIS INTERNATIONAL, SOUTH AFRICA

Angelique Smith

Professional training/Qualifications
Diploma in Event Coordinating
Diploma in Wedding Planning
Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety – Event Safety Officer
SACIA accredited Event Safety Officer Designation
SACIA accredited Event Professional Designation
Certificate in Moderating and Facilitation
Certified Covid Compliance Trainer
Diploma in Project Management
Certificate in Risk Assessment – general and specialised
Sporting fraternity Results auditor


Angelique has been actively servicing the events industry in South Africa for
over 20 years and has expanded internationally into Mauritius, Argentina, the
United Kingdom, and Dubai since 2004.
She sits on several committee’s assuming various portfolios in South Africa
within the MICE, Tourism and Hospitality sector. She is a member of the
Southern Association for the conference industry (SAACI), The Southern
African Communications Industries Association (SACIA), The Event Greening
Forum (EGF) and the Association of African Exhibition Organisers (AAXO), Site
Africa, the Exhibition and Events Association of Southern Africa (EXSA) and
the Professional Collective powered by Woman of Stature (WOS).
Angelique is a Women in Mice alumni and won the Top 40 award in 2020 as
well as the certification and qualification category in 2022 for the role she
played in the re-opening of various sectors during the Covid pandemic. She is
also the 2022 Woman of Stature Global winner in the Tourism and Hospitality
category. Event Synthesis, under the leadership of Angelique, is renowned for its comprehensive eventing solutions that span globally. As a full-service agency, it excels in conference facilitation, event and project management, event safety consultation, RSVP management, as well as sports, travel management, and corporate gifting solutions. Proudly holding a Level 2 B-BEEE certification, Event Synthesis operates with a national and international footprint, bringing its expertise to a wide array of clients and projects.

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VICE PRESIDENT OPERATIONS | REGIONAL HEAD AFRICA & INDIAN OCEAN, SOUTH AFRICA

Andreas Lackner

Working in multiple countries (Germany, Austria, England, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia). After education as chef and 7 years of cooking (private 5* Hotels) moved in the F&B area, then Front Desk, then IT, then Project Management on PMS installation, Procurement, to Sales & Marketing (Holiday Inn), them Hotel opening with Maritim in Frankfurt, one year sabatical doing things I always wanted, like: courses at Cornell University. Started with Hilton in Revenue Management, then supporting Franchise Hilton Hotels and now Brand Management.
 
Specialties: Working in all major area of an Hotel – I would call myself a “Generalist in Hotel business”. As I travel a lot and stay in many different Hotel I would also call myself “professional Hotel guest”.
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CHAIR OF SACIA'S CEPA COUNCIL (COUNCIL OF EVENT PROFESSIONALS AFRICA) & CEO, WE ARE EVENTS

Rudi Van Der Vyver

Rudi van der Vyver is an industry patron and the Chief Executive Officer for We Are Events and We are Virtual, an in-person, virtual and hybrid Event Management and Production company focused on delivering unique and innovative in-person, virtual and hybrid eventing solutions to clients. Prior to this role Rudi served the industry through his tenure as CEO of the Southern African Association for the Conference Industry (SAACI). Rudi having successfully completed the international masterclass on the Neuroscience of Event Design and Architecture is one of only 18 event practitioners in Africa to hold this distinction. He holds the designation of Certified Event Management Professional (CEPA). He is the current chair of CEPA (Council of Events Professionals Africa) and have served on the CEPA council for the last 8 years. He is also a board member of the South African Communications Industry Association (SACIA). He has also served on the boards of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa and The Event Greening Forum. In 2024 he has received awards as “Best Virtual Event CEO in Africa” by both the CEO Global Excellence Awards as well as the Middle East CEO of the Year Awards. We Are Events were also crowned as the “Most Innovative Events Company” by the Travel & Tourism Awards and received “Event Management Company of the Year” in the Corporate LiveWire Innovation & Excellence Awards. In 2025 he has been awarded “Global Event Management CEO of the Year” in the Global CEO Excellence Awards. He previously served as a member of the Minister’s Tourism Leadership Forum, the National Department of Tourism’s National Tourism Stakeholder and Transformation Forum and the National Tourism Department’s Tourism Service Excellence Forum. Bringing a wealth of management and eventing experience from the financial services, business consulting and hospitality industries as well as having played a crucial role in driving the events sector Forward in Southern Africa. Rudi is passionate about event strategy, psychology, creating unique and Memorable experiences and driving return on investment for clients through effective and creative Event management principles. A driven, innovative and creative individual with a comprehensive management and leadership Background, Van Der Vyver brings to the table more than 20 years of extensive and diversified Experience, a comprehensive training foundation and an exemplary career at leading international Organisations. Rudi van der Vyver holds a BCom (Hons) degree in marketing with the designations of Chartered Marketer CM (SA) and Virtual Event Institute Professional (VEIP). He is a Professional Business and Life Coach who has successfully implemented various strategies while with the industry Association to drive growth and collaboration within the Southern African events industry and was instrumental in driving the brand of the association into international markets to have SAACI seen as the official industry body for Africa and further drive the image of South Africa as an events destination of choice. He is an advocate for the events industry and the business of events.

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HEAD: BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & SUPPORT SERVICES, SOUTH AFRICAN TOURISM

Bongiwe Nzeku

Bongiwe Nzeku holds a Masters Degree in Marketing from the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology. She also holds a Management Development Program from the University of Stellenbosch. She serves on the Marketing Department’s Advisory Committee of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. She is currently ,the Head Business Development and Support Services at the South Africa National Convention Bureau, a division of South African Tourism.

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PRESIDENT SITE AFRICA, FOUNDER CRYSTAL EVENTS AFRICA, TRAINER, MODERATOR, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY CONSULTANT

Tes Proos

Tes is president of the Africa chapter of SITE (Society of Incentive Travel Excellence), being the only global association dedicated to the development of incentive travel programmes and founded Crystal Events Africa in 2008 – a Cape Town based African Destination Management Company.

She is also Chair of the South Africa Events Council, which was founded in April 2020, comprising of 14 South African Event Associations, collaborating in the quest to reopen the events and hospitality industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her DMC (Destination Management Company), Crystal Events Africa is the proud recipient of the SITE Crystal Award, for Best Motivational Programme (Middle East/Africa) and Tes was also awarded the Kevin Forde Spirit Award for industry engagement during the COVID-19 global lockdowns.

Tes works closely with various African tourism authorities and convention bureaus, running hospitality
workshops and master classes, developing service excellence and creating superb guest experiences.