This is the last column I will be writing for Tourism Update, after a long and highly enjoyable career of weekly columns for almost five years.  Coming to the end like this and writing a final column is almost like being asked to write your own obituary – not a bad idea but one is a little at a loss about what to write….

Travel writing must be one of the nicest jobs in the world (which is why the field is rather crowded).  Everyone thinks that it must be easy – you go on holiday, have a wonderful time at someone else’s expense, sling together a few phrases at the end of it and… job’s done.  What’s not to love?

The best part of the tourism industry is that your work is all about holidays and people having a good time.  When you are at the coalface of customer care this is sometimes a hard thing to remember.  There will always be some sour-faced, impossible-to-please customer who carries misery around like excess luggage.  There are also people with impossible expectations, who require you to wear a sense of humour like a suit of armour.
But people in the travel industry itself are largely a pleasant and sunny bunch.  And researching travel, as I have been doing, has led me to some strange and wonderful places.  I have met the earthworms of the Mount Nelson Hotel, Roger the wildebeest who pinned me up against a fence wanting to be rubbed behind the ears, a wild secretary bird trapped by barbed wire in the Free State, a goose who attacked my earrings (with my ears still attached), a pair of mongooses (mongeese?) who nibbled my toes, a horse that bit me, a rhino that chased me, a crocodile that eyed me, and almost the entire world’s population of ticks and mosquitoes that follow me lovingly whenever I go into the bush.

And that’s the animals.  Most of the people I have met have been wonderful – dedicated to the industry, merry-dispositioned, full of bonhomie, good food and delectable treats.  
Through this column I have investigated objects and places that I would never have otherwise had the opportunity.  I discovered the things unique to South Africa – the curry bunny, the mini-bus taxi, the lovely resonant place names in remote areas.  I have been introduced to the rather surreal existence of tourism on the platteland – agricultural shows where sheep-throwing has been the main attraction, tiny places with elaborate and unexpected tourism attractions like pink art galleries and world-famous tour guides.  I was introduced to the parallel universe of the OR Tambo Airport upgrade, which has resulted in a world-class airport.  I have stayed in places as diverse as luxury hotels with my own private swimming pool, to rural villages with no lights or water and where the cooking is strictly do-it-yourself.

It has not all been sweetness and light, I hasten to add.  There have been some places which have invited me to stay, and then set out to make my visit as uncomfortable and myself as unwelcome as possible.  There have been some peculiar notions of hospitality – several of which involved glass-walled bathrooms and unexpected garden staff coming to water the flower-beds.  There have been dishes of food that are unrecognisable, and some that have been all too recognisable!  There have been mix-ups and mess-ups, crossed lines and misunderstandings – just like any real holiday in fact.

However, these have been the minority.  Some of the nicest people I have met have been in the tourism industry.  Some of the most eccentric, too.  The best press trip I ever did was organised by Hibiscus Coast tourism director Craig Nancarrow, who tragically died later of a heart attack and left a huge void in the field of tourism marketing.  The worst press trip ever was…. Well, actually, you know who you are!

People in the industry here should feel privileged that they are working in South Africa – it is one of the most beautiful, diverse, quirky, unusual, unexpected, multi-layered places to live and work.  Around every corner there is a story, at every turn there is someone who is fanatical about a small aspect of our history, culture, environment or daily life.  On a regular basis I encountered people from other countries who had come here on holiday, fallen in love with the country and immigrated here to start up or to run some unusual tourist attraction.   On almost a weekly basis I have encountered ‘ordinary’ people – people behind check-in counters, car-hire desks, hotel receptions, telephone switchboards, booking counters, marketing agencies – all of whom have left me with a smile on my face and an insight into yet another unknown aspect to our industry. 

To all those in the tourism field – thank you so much for five years of wonder and delight.  Thanks for the insights, the educations, and the disasters.  Remember that the tourism industry is one of the best fields to be in, and keep smiling… you have nothing to lose but someone else’s luggage!