The VA TourismPodcast

Tourism is becoming extremely relevant for young people -UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth

In today’s episode, the United Nations Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth Jayathma Wickramanayake is my Guest. At the recently held Global Youth Tourism Summit in Sorrento, Jayathma implored the youth not to wait to be invited to the table but take the initiatives they feel strongly about it since it’s the surest way to effect change. She applauded the UNWTO for organizing the landmark youth summit.
Ms. Jayathma Wickramanayake was appointed as the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth in June 2017 at the age of 26. She is the youngest senior official in the UN and the first woman to hold this position. In this role, Jayathma works to expand the UN’s youth engagement and advocacy efforts across all four pillars of the organization’s work — sustainable development, human rights, peace and security, and humanitarian action — and serves as a representative of and advisor to the Secretary-General.
In 2019 Jayathma was recognized by Time Magazine as one of the “Time 100 Next: Rising stars shaping the future” and in 2020 she was recognized by Forbes magazine as part of its “30 under 30” list.
 
Originally from Sri Lanka, Ms. Wickramanayake has worked extensively on youth development and participation, including playing a key role in transforming the youth development sector in her home country.
Prior to taking up her post, Ms. Wickramanayake was instrumental in creating the movement for civic and political engagement of young people, especially young women, in Sri Lanka through the “Hashtag Generation” movement. Previously, she advocated for global youth development on an international level including as the first ever Sri Lankan Youth Delegate to the United Nations and as the youth lead negotiator and member of the International Youth Task Force of the World Conference on Youth 2014 where she played a critical role in mainstreaming youth in the Post-2015 Process and in the establishment of World Youth Skills Day.

GYTSers reflect on First Global Youth Tourism Summit

At the recently held first Global Youth Tourism Summit in Sorrento, Italy I sat down with eight delegates who expressed profound appreciation to the UNWTO and its partners for creating a platform to help them understand the issues around tourism, public speaking, and most importantly the simulation of the UN General Assembly. In an enthralling end to  5 memorable days in Sorrento, Gytsers from Spain, Chile, China, Cabo Verde, Cook Island, DR Congo, Seychelles, Ukraine, and Qatar in their languages pledge to stand for sustainable tourism on the podcast

Africa’s Struggle for Its Art: History of a Postcolonial Defeat Conversation with Dr Bénédicte Savoy

In today's episode, Dr. Bénédicte Savoy, Author of ''Africa's struggle for lost Arts, a history of post colonial defeat'' unpacks her works and research on Africa's lost arts. She tells me nearly a million African arts and ornaments are in European museums and is optimistic today's adult generation will witness the return of very important pieces of art to the continent.
Bénédicte Savoy is a professor in the Department of Art History at the Technical University of Berlin and was a professor at the Collège de France in Paris from 2016 to 2021. She is the coeditor of Translocations: Histories of Dislocated Cultural Assets; Acquiring Cultures: Histories of World Art on Western Markets; and The Museum Is Open: Towards a Transnational History of Museums. She is the author (with Felwine Sarr) of The Restitution of African Cultural Heritage: Toward a New Relational Ethics, known as the Sarr-Savoy Report. She lives in Berlin.
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The impact of Plastic Pollution on Tourism: A Conversation with Founders of Kids against plastic Amy and Ella Meek

At the ongoing First Global Youth Tourism Summit in Sorrento, Italy, I caught up with Founders of Kids against plastic initiative Amy and Ella Meek. They tell me it is idealistic and over-ambitious to target plastic-free world, instead, they believe in Plastic Clever, a concept which is attainable even if it means doing small things to minimize the impacts of plastic pollution.

Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa sheds light on TBCSA’s Maiden Tourism Leadership Conference

In today’s episode the CEO of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa, Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa sheds light on the council’s inaugural Tourism Leadership Conference scheduled to take place in Sun City Resort in the Northwest Province, South Africa from the 14th-16th September 2022.
 

Accra City Hotel Targets 5 SDGs to scale up sustainability credentials

My Conversation today is with the Acting General Manager of Accra City Hotel Divine Matey. He tells me the premier 4-star hotel is poised to deepen its credentials as an environmentally conscious and sustainable hospitality provider by adapting five of the UN Sustainability Goals (SDGs)

Covid-19 has made the World realise the importance of Tourism- Lindiwe Sisulu

In today’s episode, South Africa’s Minister of Tourism Lindiwe Sisulu discusses in detail the restart activities of tourism in South Africa. Speaking to me on the sidelines of the just-ended UNWTO 116thExecutive Council meeting in Jeddah, the veteran politician tells me the pandemic has assisted the industry to rethink how to make tourism a real force for good. Minister Sisulu says South Africa is ready to welcome the world.

Backpacking 54 countries in Africa: The fascinating story of Solo Traveller Boipelo Tladinyane Hlubi

In today’s episode, Boipelo Tladinyane Hlubi a solo traveler and author of a travel memoir titled: “A safari back to self – Backpacking 54 countries in Africa” narrates her fascinating travels in Africa having literally covered the entire continent with public transport.
Having travelled to 4 continents across the world, it is her solo travels across 54 African countries that has captured her heart the most. She is left with only one country (not due to lack of trying from her side) to complete setting foot in the whole continent. She shares her story as a contribution to reclaiming the African narrative in hope that this brings a certain understanding amongst Africans and pride that compels us to do better for one another and see the need to build for the benefit of each and every one of us.
Besides an African map clearly outlining the routes she took from one country to the next, her self-published book vividly depicts minute by minute details of her authentic journey across Africa, crossing land borders and using public transport. You get an insider’s account as she navigates between cultures, religions, languages, currencies, issues and delights across the rest of Africa. From attending weddings, funerals, throwing kiddies parties, night clubs, getting hospitalized, sleeping on rooftops, at the beach, on the roadside among strangers, at the police station, starring in her own movie of jumping on and off moving vehicles, surviving deportation, endless immigration processes - to being fed and warmly welcomed into homes of people who felt the need to protect her regardless of having never met her before.
Boipelo is an alumna of Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) with a N-Dip in Engineering Computer Systems and a B-Tech degree in Knowledge Management.