SKÅL INTERNATIONAL CAPE TOWN

NEWSLETTER

To The Best Members of The Best Club in The World,

April was definitely a busy month for the Cape Town Club.
WTM has come and gone, and as always, the Skål Cape Town event was the chosen event to be at and be seen at.

Feedback from our WTM Skål International stand:
I am unashamedly stealing this from our Past World President, Lavonne Wittmann (with her permission, of course).

Lavonne’s feedback was also published in the latest Skål International newsletter.

1. Beautiful, engaging and welcoming stand
2. Knowledgeable and hard-working Skål South African members working as a strong, cohesive team
3. Inviting promotional material supplied by Skål International
4. A successful cocktail party hosted by Skål International Cape Town where 150 people decided to attend our function even though there were 3 other functions they could have attended.
5. The opportunity to welcome fellow Skalleagues from all over the world. This year was made even more special as we had the opportunity to host our ISC President Julie Dabaly Scott, a fellow Skål member from Africa.
6. Engaging with over 150 people over the 3 days of the expo 

A huge thank you to all the members who assisted at the Skål stand and especially to Lavonne for arranging the aesthetics this year, that was a noticeable improvement on previous years. A special thank you to Inspire Furniture Rentals for the beautiful furniture for the stand.

Our own Aimee Lentz as part of the WTM speakers on a panel discussion: INCLUSIVE TRAVEL - HOW TO DO IT RIGHT

Past World President – Lavonne Wittmann on the Global Stage: TOURISM IS A MULTIDIMENSIONAL PHENOMENON

As part of the WTM celebrations, we were honoured to host the National Awards presented by Kobus Buys, our National President. It was an occasion of note to have 6 of the 7 National Presidents at the event. Terry Fenton-Wells from Durban was the only President that could not attend – you were missed!

Winners of the National Awards

First and foremost – The Karl Twiggs award was won by our very own Johan van Schalkwyk

The award, named after Karl Twiggs, the first South African to become World President of Skål International in 2004, recognizes individuals who have made a significant impact on the tourism industry through their leadership, vision, and dedication.

In receiving the Karl Twiggs Award, Johan joins an elite group of tourism professionals who have made a lasting impact on the industry. Among others, previous laureates include the TBCSA CEO Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, Premier Alan Winde and Alderman James Vos.

Johan is also the youngest tourism professional to have received the most prominent Skål International Karl Twiggs award.

Skål National Award Winners 2022

President of the Year: Jaco du Plooy – Cape Winelands; Committee member of the year: Gill Dickie – Nelson Mandela Bay; Kobus Buys; Karl Twiggs Award: Johan van Schalkwyk - Cape Town; SISA Club of the Year:  Skål International Garden Route – Andrew Rogers; Skålleague of the Year: Jaco Robbertse – Pretoria

Huge Thank you to Southern Sun for the wonderful venue and event, Aimee Lentz and Diamond Works for the “now it appears to be a tradition” – Bubbly Surprise and our wonderful sponsors Deetlefs, Stellenbosch Hills and Fitch & Leedes. Also to all that donated raffle prizes – we certainly had an abundance of winners!

The Goedegedacht Plaque unveiling for Rory Goldhill was on the 15^th April with quite a few members taking the time to attend. The Cape Town Club donates an Olive Tree to the estate when a member passes.

If you have the time, take a drive out to Goedgedacht Estate, the community work they are doing is phenomenal.

Young Skål

Exciting and inspiring events are in the pipeline for our Young Skål Professionals and Students.

The first stages of a possible student exchange program between Skål Cape Town and our Twinning Club Skål Perth.
Perth Club: Natalie Botteon - YS Coordinator; Jack Sherrell - Deputy YS Coordinator; Jordan Wright - YS Director; President Michael Collins - Perth Club
Cape Town Club:  Aimee Lentz - YS Coordinator; Carol Bayne; Nicci Fourie - Vice President; President Dawn Smith - Cape Town Club
Adelaide Club: Shana Franzin - Vice President and YS Coordinator

Celebrating International Skål Day

26^th April saw us celebrating International Skål Day on Milnerton Beach in collaboration with Zoe and her team from Save-A-Fishie.

Fabulous to have Di Dagh all the way from Sweden with us to celebrate International Skål Day,

Di was the first Madam President for the Cape Town Club.

Feedback from Zoe

Number of volunteers in total: 23 (10 Skal members)
Total kilograms collected: 150kg
Number of bags: 17 bags and 1 pink kids bike

Clean-up was a huge success, with us managing to keep 150kg of litter from washing out to sea as the tide was coming in! Thank you to all our volunteers for all their hard work. The weather was great and was followed by a glorious sunset! Thank you to the members of the public who walked by, saw what we were doing, and asked to join. Being visible and raising awareness through hands-on activism while cleaning the beach is an all-round success story!

Thank you again to Skål for their help!

Kind regards,
Zoë Prinsloo

Indaba 2023

Safe and productive travels for all those members attending Indaba 2023 – The Durban Skål Club is hosting a lunch during Indaba. It would be fabulous to see as many of you there as possible.

Skål International Durban will be at Indaba 2023, pop in to Stand ICC 301 for a chat.

Panthera Big Cat Sanctuary's 8^th Anniversary

Panthera Big Cat Sanctuary, the Cape Town Club winner of the Sustainable Tourism award at the International Congress 2022, is celebrating its 8^th Anniversary. Please join us in supporting an incredible cause.

Please keep an eye out for the podcasts from Skål International being posted on our social media platforms.

All the pictures and videos from the events are also online.

My wish for each and every Skål member worldwide

Unending HAPPINESS
Lifetimes of GOOD HEALTH
Infinity FRIENDSHIPS
Lustrous LONG LIFE

Skål

Dawn Smith
President Skål International Cape Town