Tshepo Kenneth Marumo

Youth in Tourism

Nominee's Province:
Gauteng

Age:
32

Project Name/Description:
Vilakazi Street Tourism

More info:
https://www.facebook.com/VilakaziST

Thirty-two years old Tshepo Kenneth Marumo’s passion for growing tourism on the world famous Vilakazi Street in Soweto was motivated during his internship at the Mandela House museum which is on that street. This was during the FIFA World Cup in 2010 when the famous street which was once home to two Nobel Prize winners, Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, was buzzing with tourists. The experience inspired Marumo to establish a business focussing on making this famous street a major tourist attraction and a business hub for small businesses. This youth month marks six years since the founding of Vilakazi Street Tourism by Marumo, of Orlando West, in Soweto, who is so fanatical about this sector that he even has a Bachelor’s Degree in Tourism Development from University of Johannesburg. As a micro tour operator Marumo works with four tourism interns and believes in collaborations to grow the industry. “As Vilakazi Street Tourism we encourage business community collaboration and involvement,” he explains. He works jointly with local Bed and Breakfasts, restaurants, arts and crafters as well as with other operators who are promoting tourism on Vilakazi Street. Marumo’s outstanding work in making Vilakazi Street a hot spot for tourists and a business hub for small operators has been featured in various online platforms such as Fo Sho, SA Tourism Update and Africa Travel Week, to name some of them.