Empowering youth, enhancing tourism

Visit Stellenbosch, in partnership with the Stellenbosch Improvement and Transformation Initiative (SITI) Special Rating Area not-for-profit company, has launched and expanded the Tourism Assistants Programme: an innovative youth development initiative aimed at placing Stellenbosch’s next generation of leaders at the heart of the town’s visitor experience.

This regenerative tourism initiative supports local job creation, strengthens community pride and ensures safer, more enriching engagements between visitors and residents.

In addition to two students from the Pinotage Youth Development Academy, eight new trainees proudly serve the town as tourism assistants after completing their training on 23 October at the Bergzicht Training Centre.

The programme is designed to transform talented local youth into the warm, welcoming faces of Stellenbosch: skilled ambassadors equipped to guide, inform and ensure a safe, authentic and memorable experience for the thousands of visitors Stellenbosch receives each year.

“Sustainable tourism starts with people,” says Annemie Liebenberg, CEO of Visit Stellenbosch. “Through the Tourism Assistants Programme, we are investing in our youth while simultaneously elevating the quality of the visitor journey. This project embodies our commitment to regenerative tourism: tourism that leaves communities stronger, more skilled and more connected than before.”

The initiative aligns with the town’s broader strategies for job creation, visitor safety and transformative public-private collaboration. A key goal is to create inclusive opportunities that enable local youth to take ownership of their future while playing a meaningful role in the tourism sector – one of the region’s largest economic drivers.

“Through projects like the Tourism Assistants Programme, SITI is proving that impact-driven innovation doesn’t only belong in boardrooms – it belongs on our streets, in our communities and in our people,” says Marinus Louw, project lead at SITI. “This is a practical step toward regenerating Stellenbosch’s tourism economy from the ground up: by empowering young people to step into visible, respected and critical roles as ambassadors of our town.”

This latest youth-focused initiative reflects Stellenbosch’s visionary approach to sustainable development and echoes the success of collaborative efforts like the recently launched “Rent-a-Cop” programme, also driven by SITI and Visit Stellenbosch partnerships.

Executive Mayor Jeremy Fasser praises the Tourism Assistants Programme as “a shining example of what happens when communities, government and business work together with a shared purpose.”

He continues: “In Stellenbosch, we don’t just talk about job creation – we create real, tangible pathways for young people to thrive. By supporting initiatives like this, we ensure the benefits of tourism are shared, inclusive and sustainable.”

As the initial group of 10 tourism assistants takes to the streets of Stellenbosch, their presence symbolises a new era of tourism: one rooted in local pride, inclusive economic participation and unforgettable visitor engagements. This is tourism with purpose.