Dr. Kagure, holds a PhD in Tourism Management.
Her areas of interest include Climate change vulnerability, mitigation and adaptation, Crisis management in tourism, Geospatial analysis, tourism governance and regional development, tourism management and marketing and Community tourism development.
Roland Vorwerk is representing the Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded African Nature-Based Tourism Platform which is focussed on facilitating access to COVID-19 relief and recovery funding for communities, nature-based tourism enterprises and conservation areas in 11 countries across southern and eastern Africa.
Previously, Roland was the marketing manager of Boundless Southern Africa for 12 years, raising awareness about southern Africa’s Transfrontier Conservation Areas. During this time he was based in Pretoria at the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment.
In the course of his work, Roland developed close working relationships with stakeholders across the region while finding innovative ways to promote tourism to these Transfrontier destinations. He has worked in a variety of tourism related fields for more than 20 years – as a tourist guide, developing tourism products in rural communities and working on several destination marketing initiatives.
Roland’s current focus is on building greater resilience in conservation landscapes by supporting initiatives that achieve inclusive rural economic development outcomes whilst securing the natural capital of these landscapes. Recent assignments in the Department included leading efforts to develop a national Wildlife Economy Certification Scheme and developing a Biodiversity Sector Investment Portal.
Karen Matsiko is a skilled and savvy banking maven with a sterling reputation for achieving impeccable results. Having successfully grown businesses revenue at Absa Africa by over 20%, Karen maintains the perfect balance between client-focused executive and innovative leadership.
With over 15 years of experience in finance including a tenure on Wall Street managing high-stake portfolios, Karen brings her extensive background to the Trade and Working Capital sectors, a growing need in Africa today.
Karen currently serves as the Head of Working Capital Product Management at Absa Capital, a Pan African Bank headquartered in South Africa. In her current role, she designs and implements the Africa Working Capital sectoral value propositions and customer value propositions to obtain growth and primacy by responsively adapting to the ever-changing regional needs of clients.
Outside of work, Karen serves on the board of Save Our Watoto, an organization that advocates for children’s rights. She is also the Board Pillar lead of the Young Leaders Connect, an initiative of the IWFSA Leadership, and actively volunteers as a youth mentor.
Karen maintains an active presence in several prominent committees, including serving as Vice-Chair of the Employment Equity Forum at Absa, Banking on Women (Absa Africa Group), Elevate New York (Formerly 85 Broads), New York Women’s Foundation, and African Business Networking Group.
Karen holds a BBA degree Magna Cum Laude from Berkeley College and an MBA from Cornell University with a concentration in Emerging Markets. She also has taken several leadership programs, notably at IMD, Switzerland, and Duke University.
Ms. Sisulu was appointed as Minister of Tourism on 5 August 2021. She was Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation from 30 May 2019 to 5 August 2021. She was Minister of International Relations and Cooperation from 27 February 2018 to 25 May 2019. Ms Lindiwe Nonceba Sisulu was the Minister of Human Settlements of the Republic of South Africa from 26 May 2014 until 26 February 2018.
She has been a Member of Parliament since 1994. She has been chairperson of the Inaugural of the African Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development since 2005. Ms Sisulu is member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress (ANC) and a member of the National Working Committee of the ANC. She was a trustee of the South African Democracy Education Trust; trustee of the Albertina and Walter Sisulu Trust; and a member of the Board of the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
Catheryn is a Gender Consultant on the Global Report on Women in Tourism (UNWTO, UN Women, World Bank, GIS, Amadeus).
She serves on the advisory board of the International Tourism and Investment Conference as a gender expert, is the founder of Women Academics in Tourism (WAiT).
Theuns Charles Vivian is an academic, writer, entrepreneur and administrator with specific focus on tourism and entrepreneurship.He was born in Cape Town and obtained his first degree from the University of Stellenbosch in 1984 (BEcon) where after he obtained a BCom honours degree from Unisa in 1987 and a MEcon degree from Stellenbosch University in 2000. In 2012 he obtained his doctorate from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and the title of his doctoral thesis is: Tourism Business Growth With Specific Reference To Black Economic Empowerment In The Tour Operating Sub Sector In South Africa.
He held several senior positions over the years including lecturing positions at Unisa (Transport Economics) and the then Cape Technikon (Tourism Studies); Regional Director South African Tourism, General Manager of the Western Cape Tourism Board, Founder member and Director of the Tourism Entrepreneurship Academy and chairperson of several professional committees including the Tourism Technikon Educators of South Africa, the Rugby World Cup 1995 Tourism committee, etc.
He was awarded the Good Samaritan Award by the then Minister for Tourism Dr Pallo Jordan for his dedication and commitment to tourism and the people of South Africa.He showed a keen interest not just in his academic activities but also participated in sport such as rugby, cricket, chess, jiu jitsu and athletics. He is also a hypnotist and has a good sense of humour.
The impressive commitment of this passionate, self-motivated, and intelligent woman to the travel and tourism industry is evident in her tireless efforts to improve the sector’s activities, structures, and people. With over 30 years of experience in business ownership, management, consulting, and administration, she has worked with governments in Africa and the Caribbean, organised global events, and held various roles.
She currently works as a Tourism Consultant for global organisations and destinations in West Africa and also holds the position of Chief Executive Officer at the West Africa Tourism Organisation (WATO). Her efforts have led to the development of stronger working relationships among countries in the region and the creation of projects such as the West Africa Integrated Travel (WAIT) and the West Africa Ecotourism Network (WAEN). Furthermore, she has facilitated the signing of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) for exchange programs of Best Practices among countries in the region.
In addition to promoting West Africa to the world, she has initiated the Freedom Pilgrims program to reconnect people of African descent in the Diaspora with the continent. Her extensive global travels and work have made her an expert in exotic destinations and diverse cultures.
Trained as a Scientist, she has transitioned from being an Image Consultant and Event Planner to emerging as a tourism guru. She holds a Master of Science degree in Tourism Marketing Management from Bournemouth University (UK) and has been honoured with several awards for her contributions to tourism development in Africa.
Her recent and current works include:
Doris Parson is the Managing Director of SRC Agency, which is a Communications and Conferences Company based in Tanzania and Rwanda.
Moseketsi is the Head of Light Manufacturing & Tourism Business Unit at IDC. This unit that has facilitated the development and funding of several tourism establishments in South Africa and the Rest of Africa.
She has extensive experience in the tourism industry spanning over 10 years and plays a key role at various stakeholder’s forums both in government and private sector.
She is a Chartered Accountant by profession and sits on several Boards.
Manish Nambiar is the Area General Manager- Africa for Kempinski Hotels. With over 25 years of international experience in the hotel industry, Manish is currently responsible for the operations of Kempinski Hotel which features properties in Egypt, Kenya, Seychelles, Djibouti, and Ghana.
Manish is a seasoned hospitality professional with strategic business acumen driven to deliver operational and financial excellence to create market leading returns and establish mutually beneficial partnerships and relationships with stakeholders.
A dynamic and result-oriented leader, he is adept at building and nurturing high performance teams guiding and motivating them towards setting and achieving visionary goals by effectively aligning company values with key business initiatives and brand experiences.
Manish holds an Executive MBA from the Reims Business School, France, a degree in Management from Cornell Hotel School and a post-graduate from the Oberoi Center of Learning and Development.