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Birgit was born in Vryburg, South Africa and first joined the
travel industry in October 1992 as Regional Marketing Officer
for the Stellaland region situated in the Northern Cape.
She was responsible for
the marketing and development of the area both locally and internationally
as a tourist destination. This included exhibiting at various
local and international trade shows throughout the year; ITB-Berlin,
WTM-London, INDABA-Durban (South Africa) and The Getaway Outdoor
adventure show in both Johannesburg and Cape Town.
In November 1995 Birgit joined a local South African airline,
Sun Air (servicing the Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Sun City
and Livingstone routes) as Public Relations Manager. She was responsible
for handling all aspects of the public relations, media relations
and customer care function for the airline. Two years later, in
December 1997, Birgit opened her own Public Relations Consultancy,
which quickly grew to include amongst other clients, Virgin Atlantic
South Africa for whom she handled all aspects of their P.R. and
media planning. She also assisted in the planning of a 3 day entertainment
program in Johannesburg for clients of Frontiers International,
a US tour wholesaler that included golfing, |
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shopping and an exclusive dinner party. Birgit played an integral
part in assisting other consultants on prestigious projects and
events such as the “Shoprite/Checkers Woman of the Year
Award” and the “Boss of the Year Award” ceremony.
She later became a mother to daughter Kimberley and a short 20
months later, son Alex, which necessitated time off work to spend
with two small children. After a break of four years she agreed
to return to the industry on a part time basis to assist Phillip
in the start up of their new businesses, and now has responsibility
for the Accounts Department.
Birgit has traveled extensively throughout Africa, including Botswana,
Zimbabwe, Namibia, Tanzania/Zanzibar, Kenya, Seychelles, Mauritius
and naturally, a large portion of South Africa too.
She says it is impossible to pinpoint the highlights of her travels
through Africa, as there have been so many, that in each country
she visited, she has experienced moments that instilled “such
a special feeling of love, awe and admiration, freedom and calm
as well as excitement and adventure” – each experience
so different from the last and incomparable to the next!
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If she had to name a few of her favourite places, she would have
to single out the Okavango Delta (Botswana), Victoria Falls in
Zimbabwe, the wide open spaces and peaceful atmosphere of Namibia
(especially the Sossusvlei area), the abundance of game and enormous
plains of the Serengeti in Tanzania (Ngorongoro Crater is indelibly
etched in her memory for all time!) and the white beaches, turquoise
seas and palm trees of Seychelles and Mauritius!
Over and above her travels through Southern and East Africa and
the Indian Ocean Islands, Birgit has done much traveling through
South Africa and has seen every province; some in more detail
than others. She has been fortunate enough to do the world-famous
Garden Route and Cape Town, the West Coast and Namaqualand, the
Northern Cape, and has driven through the great Karoo. No travel
in South Africa is complete unless you’ve experienced our
beaches and our game reserves! Birgit has suntanned on the beaches
of Natal, San Lameer & Sodwana Bay and stayed at lodges in
Mpumalanga (Londolozi and Exeter in the Sabi Sands as well as
stays in the Kruger National Park). She is also a keen golfer
and has played on a few of the great golf courses available in
South Africa. |
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