It's a few days before Africa's premier Travel show, Indaba is due to take place in Durban, South Africa. This travel trade show is an integral part of the hospitality calendar each year and it showcases the widest variety of Southern Africa's best tourism products, and attracts international visitors and media from across the globe. This event is similar to world travel shows such as ITB in Berlin, WTM in London and CTM in China. This year's Indaba almost marks the anniversary of Fifa World Cup 2010 where Africa was on the world stage. Since then, there has been a heightened global awareness of Southern Africa as a travel destination. Closer to home, this has had a positive impact on Zimbabwe's premier destination, Victoria Falls. From an African Sun perspective, arrivals into our hotels for the period October 2010 to February 2011 grew by 33% with 90% of arrivals going into our Victoria Falls hotels. There was a growth into our hotels from most of our major source markets during this period with arrivals from the Pacific region growing by 96% compared to the same period last year, arrivals from Africa contributed 42% of hotel room nights into Victoria Falls representing a 31% growth when compared to the same period last year, and 87% of those arrivals were from South Africa. Europe contributed 29% of arrivals, marking a 33% growth compared to the same period last year. The outlook for Victoria Falls continues to reflect this positive trend as is reflected by the major upcoming conferences for the next three months. Victoria Falls also remains a popular destination for individual travellers . I am confident, that Victoria Falls will continue to be a tourists' hub with a unique offering.

In celebration of spring and 'Secretary's Day' today, The Grace in Rosebank have decided to celebrate both occasions for a lot longer than just one day this year. So-much-so, they have launched an 'I am a corporate secretary' lunch promotion in their renowned Dining Room for the entire month of September.

Patrons of the fairer sex can enjoy an exotic non alcoholic cocktail upon arrival, a 2-course lunch offering comprising either a starter and main or main and dessert, a glass of wine to accompany your lunch and complimentary parking. All for only R99.00 per person. Lunch can be taken either on the 4th floor terrace offering breathtaking views of Rosebank or in the inviting and relaxing atmosphere of the Dining Room.

The 'I am a corporate secretary' promotion will run from 12h00 – 14h00, Monday to Friday until 30 September 2010. To qualify for this promotion, ladies will need to produce their business card upon arrival, advising they would like to participate in this promotional lunch. All business cards will be placed in a competition box and a draw will take place every Friday at 14h00, to win a 3-course dinner for 2 people in the Dining Room.

Pre-booking is essential, contact the Grace on Tel: +27 011 280 7200.

And yet again this remarkable festival will be bringing together the city's most acclaimed restaurants and carefully selected exhibitors to attract 15 000 of Joburg's most dedicated and sophisticated foodies.

From Thursday 30th September to Sunday 3rd October 2010, the city's top restaurants and chefs will be serving a stunning selection of sample sized signature dishes to Taste of Joburg visitors. Riding high from the hugely successful Taste of Joburg 2009 this amazing food festival promises to be the culinary event of the year. Taste of Joburg brings together the city's finest restaurants, award winning wineries, premium drink brands, niche food exhibitors and fantastic entertainment. If you love eating out this is an opportunity too good to miss!

Mouth-watering, lip-smacking, delectable, tantalising and unequivocally delicious – just some of the words you'll be using at this year's Taste of Joburg Festival 2010 kicking off at Montecasino Outdoor Event Area from Thursday 30th September to 3rd October 2010.

There are a limited amount of tickets available and bookings are essential, these can be purchased through Computicket on 083 915 8000 or www.computicket.com.

Standard tickets cost R60 (includes a Taste wine glass), premium tickets cost R150 (includes a Taste wine glass and R100 worth of Crowns) and VIP tickets, for the ultimate Taste experience in the Taste Club House, cost R570.

For more information go to www.tasteofjoburg.com.

As we speak this month, I reflect on our environment, on what is taking place around us, and how it impacts our business. The key message is that the global economic forum has changed forever. It has become evident that prudency in all we do has come to the fore and is now a key business imperative more than it has ever been.

In order to preserve value for the business, for ourselves and attain sustainable growth, we will have to become mavericks at what we do and in all areas of operation while maintaining our values. Although I use the term maverick, very much tongue in cheek, I must emphasize that we must realize that we will have to do more with less.

Income streams from our existing and potential clients are largely rationalized thereby resulting in a ripple effect to the service industry. This means that our guests are more likely to be price sensitive and at the same time demanding better service standards and delivery from us. This expectation has a direct bearing on our staffing and the requisite levels and caliber of personnel handling our guests.

I recently presented a paper at the Institute of People Management of Zimbabwe (IPMZ) conference held in Victoria Falls and my talk touched on these key issues of what is expected of our people to enable them to deliver to internationally acceptable standards, yet at the same time managing head count as any efficient business should. The issue of multi-skilling with the right candidates is a real one which should be the backbone of any organization. In order to effectively deliver at all times, we need to identify talent, nurture it, and this will eventually ensure our competitiveness not only on the African platform but on a global scale as well.

This forces me to revisit our staff skills competitiveness globally. What comes to mind is that we have pockets of excellence, but in order to change the perception of current skills level for Africa, our current training and development model has to be revamped in order to fit and meet modern challenges. The framework of the past will not work, therefore I leave you with this food for thought, what part can you play in your organization to ensure that your team remains relevant for today's world and beyond?