Janet Silvera , The Gleaner's senior tourism writer and coordinator of the weekly publication, Hospitality Jamaica, is one of two local journalists handpicked by the South African High Commission to learn about the thriving tourism industry in that country.

Miss Silvera, the 2006 overall winner of the American Express/-Caribbean Hotel Association Caribbean tourism media award, departs Jamaica next Sunday, April 29, for Johannesburg, where she participates in a three-week familiarisation tour of three provinces, including the breathtakingly beautiful Cape Town and Indaba.

Indaba is the largest tourism marketing event on the African calendar and one of the top three 'must-visit' events on the global calendar. It showcases the widest variety of Southern Africa's best tourism products, and attracts international visitors and media from across the world.

Ms. Silvera, along with Jamaica Observer reporter, Kerry Kaye McCatty, will be accompanied by political secretary at the South African High Commission, Kingston, Terresia Harrison. The tour includes a visit to the Apartheid Museum, Robben Island, where former president, Nelson Mandela was jailed, and the biggest game reserve in the world.

"Our main objective is to showcase the rich culture and diversity of South Africa's flourishing tourist industry to the Jamaican people," High Commissioner Faith Doreen Radebe told The Sunday Gleaner. She said that Jamaica possesses a competitive industry and whatever can be passed on from one nation to the next would be beneficial.