CCT Travel and Tourism Student Secures an International In-service Training Opportunity

Sanele Tshonaphi is a twenty-seven-year-old young male from Mthatha in the Eastern Cape and currently residing in Khayelitsha. He completed his matric in 2015 and decided to pursue a career in Tourism. Thus, he enrolled for a National Diploma in Travel and Tourism with the College of Cape Town. Sanele intentionally came to Cape Town knowing it is South Africa’s number 1 tourism destination, with the best places to visit for international and local tourists. Being accepted by the College of Cape Town was a dream come to a step closer to realising his dream of a career in Travel and Tourism.

He commenced his studies at the college in 2016 however due to unforeseen circumstances he had to drop out before completing his National N6 Certificate. This forced him to take a gap year, before approaching the Overseas Visitors Club (OVC) World Study Travel for assistance, they helped secure him a one-year internship abroad where he worked for Kalahari Resorts in the State of Pennsylvania, United States of America. Once he completed the internship, he came back to South Africa to complete his studies, unfortunately, because of the Covid-19 Pandemic, he was unable to immediately continue with his studies. He was fortunate enough to secure a job at a five-star hotel in Constantia as a Housekeeper.

In February 2021 he resigned as he wanted to focus primarily on his studies without any distractions that might be caused by his job. Indeed, his hard work and determination saw him complete his National N6 Certificate. Since he had seen the magnificent work and positive impact of OVC, he went back to them for assistance to secure an international In-service Training opportunity, to assist him with obtaining practical work experience towards obtaining his National Diploma.

By God's grace, a very well-resolute consultant named Amanda assisted him from day one and the application process was challenging due to the regulations surrounding the pandemic. Luckily early this year, a hosting company named The Union Club Hotel, Purdue University, in the state of Indiana contacted him for an internship.

The College of Cape Town Council, Management, Staff and Students wish Sanele the best of luck on his journey and we encourage him to fly the college and the country high.