Imagine an all expense paid job to travel around South Africa and write about it? For Joy-Anne Goodenough, it’s no longer a matter of imagination, but absolute reality.
She landed the plum assignment in an online competition run by Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa (FTTSA) and Getaway, beating almost 200 other entrants.
Goodenough is the editor of the award-winning Portfolio Travel Blog. She is also a photographer and will blog about her experiences on the Getaway website as she travels the highways and byways of south-eastern SA to a number of FTTSA-endorsed destinations. FTTSA is a non-profit organisation that promotes sustainable tourism development.
“Although FTTSA concentrates on certification in tourism, ensuring fair wages and working conditions for staff, we also place a huge emphasis on community development projects to ensure that a fair share of the tourism revenue stays in local communities,” commented Katarina Mancama, FTTSA project manager. “Joy will be visiting community-based tourism projects and helping put them on the map.”
FTTSA chose to partner with the travel brand because of the exposure it would bring to their initiatives, she said.
“Joining forces with Getaway has been such a boost for FTTSA in terms of raising awareness about all of the fabulous Fair Trade tourism establishments we have in South Africa. We hope that this will be a long partnership that will help to ensure that tourism works for South Africa and for South Africans!”
FTTSA was so pleased with the success of the campaign that they had decided to run another dream travel job competition later in the year, focusing on the Mpumalanga area, she said.
Goodenough responded to an advertisement that called for a love of travel and travel writing, a flair for photography, a laptop and camera and the freedom to hit the road from 14 February – 9 March. Readers can follow her progress on https://www.getaway.co.za/page/Joy-Anne-Goodenou
