Tourism brought jobs to South Africa, but the traces of apartheid still linger in how those jobs are filled. For black South Africans “there’s more than a glass ceiling; there’s a concrete ceiling,” says Brijesh Thapa, director of UF’s Center for Tourism Research and Development. “Tourism is dominated by the wealthy white elite,” he explains. “The industry has provided employment to the black community, but mostly in service jobs that aren’t upwardly mobile.” Through an innovative three-year program supported by the Higher Education for Development and the United States Agency for International Development, UF is poised to extend opportunities to disadvantaged groups through bachelor’s, graduate and certificate programs at the Tshwane University of Technology in South Africa.

The benefits will extend beyond the prospective students. In addition to creating a better trained, more diverse workforce, the partnership will create exchange opportunities for UF students and professors, as well as expand options for visitors to South Africa, a favorite destination for its natural, wildlife and cultural resources. The cooperative effort couldn’t come at a better time. South Africa is positioned for global visibility as it hosts the 2010 World Cup, a sporting event that dwarfs the Super Bowl in terms of international attention.

In addition to developing Tshwane University of Technology’s current tourism program, Thapa and his colleagues plan to expand the curriculum to cover management of events, casinos and airports and aviation. They also plan to develop a certificate program for vocational training, which will help guides, drivers and other service workers gain better employment. Another initiative of the program will create a Center for Sustainable Tourism to serve tourism destinations and industry that research, train and do outreach within the community, province and other regions in South Africa.

Thapa also hopes to work with the tourism industry to create scholarships for prospective students, and foresees involving community leaders in underprivileged areas, such as Johannesburg’s sprawling Soweto slum, to spread the word to young people that tourism jobs go beyond driving a bus. “The floodgate hasn’t opened up for equal opportunity in these jobs,” Thapa says. “We want to introduce them to the idea that working in tourism isn’t just being a guide or a porter. You can get a degree and make it a career.” Partnerships like this are key to UF’s threefold mission of teaching, research and service.