I was invited to be a facilitator at the national tourism conference in South Africa called: THE SUMMIT held from October 14-15th, 2013. It was great! South Africa's tourism industry came together and discussed issues of importance to their activities. Representatives from their private sector, government and services industry for travel, tourism and hospitality all attended.
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| Main plenary hall before the session started on Day 1 |
I had the task of doing the wrap up at the ending plenary. It was fun!
The hotel where the event took place and where I stayed is called MASLOW in the Sandton section of Johannesburg. It was a nice hotel with the more modern motif. Lots of greys, silvers and shades of grey. Not much on splashes of color - but lovely in that modern, hi-tech kind of way. The b'fast buffet looked wonderful, but the pastries looked better than they tasted (they made their apple puffs with apple sauce...gag!). They did my eggs soft scrambled well on day 1 and missed it on day 2. The bed was absolutely comfy! Their service and politeness of the staff was WONDERFUL! I may complain about other things, but the service was the bomb! Kudos to them! Too much glass everywhere in the room for me (no wall between the bathroom and bed section, only decorated glass! Even the door for the toilet was glass), but nicely done and since I was alone in the room, that was ok. The room service grilled ham and cheese I ordered was as tasty as cardboard with day old cheese and hard sandwich 'pseudo-ham' melted between the wedges of dry bread. But, I was hungry, so I ate it anyway. For me... I give it 3 out of 5 'Jackie Smiles.'
I did several television interviews at The SUMMIT including a studio clip about tourism in Namibia at CNBC in South Africa. There is a clip of me on YouTube from a CNBC interview I did two years ago talking about the financial aspects of tourism and its impacts on the Namibian economy. I hope they post this new one too. They did my make-up and I think it looked rather nice.
At the CNBC studio, I was introduced to a new magazine called: Forbes Woman (Africa edition). I will pray that I can send them a teaser and get to write an article for them! Here's hoping!
But, there is a magazine they published for this month called Forbes Life (Africa). It has a stunning cover photo of Alek Wek the South Sudanese model. That cover photo is absolutely the most riveting and stunning shot I have ever seen. I would love to have a copy framed and mounted on the wall of my office. It is that beautiful. Google it and take a look!
The Adventure Travel World Summit is starting in Namibia this weekend! Hurray! I am smiling all over with the glow of having Namibia front and center in so many international conferences and activities including the COP 11 of the UNCCD. That was over 3000 delegates! Wow.... ATWS will have 700 delegates, but these are tourism agents and activities companies from mostly the USA, but some other countries too. They will travel all over Namibia and see the beautiful things we have to show the world here!
Before I sign-off, I have to include this photo of one of my newly born Labrador pups. This was baby #1. There are 8 (eight) of them! To anyone in Namibia, you can call me to get one! There are 6 girls and 2 boys. They are in demand and always sell out fast. They won't be ready to leave their Mom until the last week in November at the earliest (they are 10 days old now), but if you want one, you'll need to book now. Send me an email for more info: Asheeke@africaonline.com.na.
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| I am 20 minutes old here! |
If you come, consider Gondwana Desert Collection for your lodging. Contact ULTIMATE SAFARIS for a tour operator that understands how things really work here in Namibia and can really relate to us Americans when we travel to new places!
If you go there, Tell'em - Jackie sent ya'
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