Cape Town Expansion

Dlala Nje

Cape Town Expansion

Immersive community-led experiences and changemaker training in Cape Town that empower local youth and decentralise tourism.

Johannesburg, South Africa

ZAF

Hybrid of for-profit and nonprofit

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Cape Town’s under-resourced neighbourhoods face deep-rooted exclusion from South Africa’s formal tourism and economic systems. Youth unemployment is over 60%, and opportunities to earn income or gain professional skills are scarce. While tourism contributes 3.7% to South Africa’s GDP, its benefits are concentrated in formal sectors and over-visited areas, leaving informal communities overlooked and undervalued. Dlala Nje addresses this gap by shifting the tourism value chain to include youth from underserved areas through community-led immersive experiences. We train local young people in facilitation, storytelling, digital literacy, and entrepreneurship to become cultural guides and micro-entrepreneurs. This creates alternative pathways to income, inclusion, and dignity. Globally, over two billion people work in the informal economy and face structural barriers to accessing opportunity — from a lack of formal job prospects to digital exclusion. Our solution reimagines tourism as a tool for inclusive economic participation, integrating informal workers into a technology-enabled, socially conscious ecosystem. By creating decentralised travel experiences rooted in local voices, we bridge gaps in access to income, visibility, and professional development — and begin to redesign what equitable economic participation can look like in an age of disruption.

Dlala Nje: Cape Town Immersions is a community-led tourism and skills development programme that creates dignified income opportunities for youth in under-resourced areas of Cape Town. We train young people as cultural facilitators, storytellers, and local guides — equipping them with digital literacy, hosting skills, and entrepreneurial tools to deliver immersive travel experiences to conscious travellers. The solution connects global travellers with authentic, guided experiences led by local changemakers — including walking tours, home-cooked meals, community art showcases, and cultural immersions. These experiences generate income for youth, foster cultural exchange, and shift tourism spending into underserved communities. Our pilot uses low-cost tech: mobile-based training content, WhatsApp for coordination and bookings, and GPS-linked storytelling tools. Participants are supported with digital onboarding, safety training, and financial literacy. We are currently exploring a lightweight platform for matching guides with travellers and tracking impact metrics — including earnings, bookings, and community reinvestment. This model decentralises tourism, builds local ownership, and empowers young people to shape their futures through storytelling, tech-enabled entrepreneurship, and place-based experiences.

Our solution serves unemployed and underemployed youth in under-resourced communities across Cape Town, including townships and informal neighbourhoods historically excluded from South Africa’s formal economy and tourism sector. Many of these young people face barriers such as limited access to quality education, digital exclusion, and a lack of dignified income-generating opportunities. Our model provides these youth with training in digital literacy, storytelling, facilitation, and entrepreneurship. Once trained, they lead immersive cultural experiences that generate income, build skills, and foster local pride. Travellers don’t just observe — they engage. Through shared dialogue, some offer mentorship, share career advice, or connect changemakers to wider networks and opportunities. This reciprocal model makes every experience a potential launchpad for youth development — economically and socially. By decentralising tourism and investing in local talent, our solution creates meaningful, sustained change. It uplifts youth, redirects spending to overlooked communities, and fosters global solidarity — showing that when designed intentionally, tourism can become a powerful tool for connection, inclusion, and opportunity.