Thabang Rapotu’s tourism journey has come full circle. She joined Young Skål — the youth division of Skål International, a global organisation built on the principle of doing business among friends — in Cape Town in 2012. Fourteen years later, she’s serving as President of Skål International Pretoria.
In between, she built a career across some of the industry’s most exacting rooms: The Saxon Hotel, Villas and Spa in Johannesburg, One&Only Cape Town, and eventually Seychelles, where she became Hilton’s first-ever Cluster Director of Sales for its Seychelles portfolio.
She credits much of her professional development, confidence and international exposure to the relationships and opportunities she found through Skål. “From my junior years in tourism, we connected with key industry players and, through those relationships, gained access to opportunities that may otherwise have taken years to reach,” she recalls.
Of her years in Seychelles, she says: “Living and working on an island that is in such high demand means that life often revolves around maintaining the highest standards of hospitality and customer service. It was demanding, but it was also one of the most important environments for my growth and for shaping the direction of my career.”
Rapotu cites navigating the industry through COVID-19 as another pivotal period. Almost overnight, the central question changed — no longer simply how to provide memorable hospitality, but how to stay connected to travellers, sustain confidence in destinations, and keep people inspired to travel while the entire world was grounded.
She remembers competitors becoming collaborators as stakeholders met virtually, regularly, to find practical and creative ways to stay connected to past and future travellers. Virtual tours, online trade engagements and digital showcases became essential tools. Her Skål membership added real value here too — access to an international network of tourism professionals exactly when collaboration was most needed.
In 2022, Rapotu brought that experience home. She founded Poised Solutions, a boutique hospitality sales, marketing and representation company supporting independent hotels, resorts, lodges, destination management companies and tourism experiences across Africa and the Indian Ocean — representing clients at trade shows and industry platforms across the continent.
She’s candid about how difficult the industry is to navigate without meaningful, long-term relationships. “The tourism industry is difficult to manoeuvre without multiple stakeholder relationships across different levels,” she explains. “Some of those relationships are genuinely difficult to establish without significant financial resources, industry access or years of consistent engagement.”
Reflecting on what entrepreneurs sometimes misunderstand about networking, Rapotu recalls a period in her own business when she hadn’t prioritised participating consistently in a professional network — reaching out to other business owners only when she needed help, or when a crisis arose. “Not only was it awkward, but it was also ineffective because it was reactive and lacked structure,” she says. “Relationships need to be built before you need something. They require consistency, contribution and a genuine interest in the success of others.”
In January 2026, Rapotu accepted the role of President of Skål International Pretoria, driven by a need to reciprocate — to give back to the organisation and industry that shaped her career. “I am deeply grateful for the years I have spent learning from fellow ‘Skålleagues’, exchanging ideas and finding solutions that contribute positively to the tourism value chain,” she says. “Serving as President gives me an opportunity to support others, strengthen our network and create space for the next generation of tourism professionals.”
At a recent Skål Pretoria gathering, Lifestyle and Tech spoke to several members about their businesses and their involvement with Skål International.
Ulysses Tours & Transfers Managing Member Jaco Robbertse was celebrating the company’s 30th anniversary. He credits much of the longevity and resilience of the business — which now employs 88 full-time staff — to relationships developed through Skål. “At one point during the intermittent COVID lockdowns, we had gone for months without business,” he shared. “One of the members called and gave us work worth around half a million rand. Work that might not have come our way otherwise.”
De Vette Mossel @Harties has been a Skål member for close to a decade. Founder Jannie de Vette remains amazed by the number of travel groups that visit the establishment through referrals connected to Skål members he’s never interacted with directly. “Skål has helped me to step outside my comfort zone and connect with people from other cultures,” he says. “
In business, it has resulted in an unexpected flow of opportunities, from small groups to year-end functions. It is an amazing ecosystem.”
For Zurela Travel founder Ximatsatsa Charity Banfield, business leads are among the most valuable benefits of membership, alongside mentorship and access to major tourism trade platforms that smaller businesses may not otherwise afford. “Earlier this year, I was given an opportunity to speak to an audience of more than 100 entrepreneurs at Africa’s Travel Indaba, sharing insights about tourism opportunities between Africa and the Caribbean islands,” she says.
Rapotu’s journey, together with the experiences of fellow Skål members, shows that generic networking alone isn’t enough to generate meaningful, sustainable business growth. The real return on investment lies in being part of a network — an ecosystem — that’s professionally run, relationship-driven, and intentional about the success of its members.
Robbertse’s half-million-rand call, De Vette’s diners arriving through members he’s never met, and Banfield’s stage at Africa’s Travel Indaba didn’t come from exchanging business cards. They came from people who kept showing up for each other. Rapotu, fourteen years into her Skål journey and now leading that ecosystem herself, is proof that the real return isn’t always the deal you chase — sometimes, it’s the opportunity that finds you, because of the relationships you took the time to build.