Your chance to become a tour guide
Passionate about your Knysna and yearning for an opportunity to explore and rave about it? Looking for a new career? Then tour guiding might just be what you are looking for!
Tour guiding is a rewarding career – you get to see and explore many beautiful places, experience thrilling adventures and meet interesting people from all over the world while making friends in the process and earning an income.
Drum Beat Academy, specialists in the hospitality and tourism training industry with offices all over the country, is now also in the Garden Route to offer you world-class training.
Hands-on training
National tour guide Mart van der Walt, who has been a lecturer for more than 12 years and will be heading this new establishment, says, “Our training is very hands-on, fun and practical.”
Explaining the name of the academy she said beating drums resonate with Africa and its enthralling rhythms. The message we are sending out is the call of Africa – come and see the magnificent beauty and splendour of our Rainbow Nation in all its diversity and glory.
Adding to this, Van der Walt, who is settling into Knysna after escaping the busy city life of Pretoria last year, says she feels privileged to be here and cannot wait to establish the academy in the Garden Route.
Variety of courses
Drum Beat Academy has been operating for more than 17 years and offers a variety of courses taught by experienced facilitators, ranging from Provincial Culture and Nature Guides, Nature Site Guides, Cultural Site Guides, Adventure Guides and more.
A Grade 12 certificate is necessary to enrol for an NQF level 4 Qualification but even those without a matric certificate can enrol for a Qualification on an NQF 2 level.
Some of the benefits of being trained by this academy are the fact that they are registered and accredited with Culture, Arts, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport Sector Education and Training Authority (CATHSSETA), offer year-round training, in-house training at your site (numbers depending) and free website listing as a qualified tour guide, meaning employers such as tour operators can offer you employment.
International accolade
The academy also boasts an international accolade after Joanne Buitendag, one of our students, was recently elected as one of the top 10 guides internationally.
Below are some of the academy’s clients, who they have given training to: SANParks, national Department of Tourism, Gauteng Tourism Authority, Wits University Evolutionary Studies, Tourvest, Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, Freedom Park, Emperor’s Palace, Guvon Hotel Group, Graceland Hotel and Casino, Royal Bafokeng, Amazing Africa Tour Company, African Eagle Tour company, etc.
How to enrol
Contact Mart van der Walt on 083 304 7821 or head office on 0860 103635 to enrol and end up as one of their qualified guides from the Garden Route area. Website: www. drumbeatacademy.co.za