A tourism journey with tour guide, Breyton Dickson
Meet Breyton Dickson, a passionate tour guide who has travelled South Africa and across borders introducing destinations to enthusiastic travellers.
Breyton’s journey began in Plettenberg Bay Primary School, where he first learned about tour guiding as a career. His interest in travel and outdoor adventures blossomed during his high school years when he enrolled in a Tourism class. Born and raised in the picturesque Crags (Kurland), Breyton recognises the rich biodiversity and wild beauty that the area provides. I sat down with him to discuss his career in tourism and opportunities in this field for young people.
After his matriculation in 2020, Breyton started working with Gem Tours while pursuing studies in cultural guiding. Today, he combines his love for the outdoors with his expertise in cultural heritage to provide enriching experiences for travellers exploring the beauty of the Crags and beyond. He explains: “When you do tour guiding, you get to learn about different people and different cultures. As a tour guide, you must be open minded in understanding your clients. There are a lot of advantages to tour guiding but what excites me the most is being able to travel all over the country and seeing different people, learning more about other provinces and also other cultures.”
In his travels across South Africa and beyond, a trip to mesmerising Namibia stands out for Breyton as the most exciting that he has made outside the country. However, he is quite firm in his belief that nothing comes close to being at home and exploring your own backyard: “My favourite hiking trails are here in Plettenberg Bay. I went out to other places and realised that, here in Plett, we have something special. I’d like to encourage our local residents to tour Plettenberg Bay and see what a beautiful town we have here.”
Currently, Breyton is working at Face Adrenalin – the world-famous bungy jump on Bloukrans Bridge – and his long term goal is to own his own tour guiding, and to travel more. He is enthusiastic about uplifting other young people and encouraging them to pursue a similar career path. As we all know, an office and desk job is not for everyone and some, like Breyton, prefer to be working outdoors.
To all young people who have an interest in tourism and would like to pursue a career in this sector, do your research and find out as much as you can. “Get a start, just get a start and everything will fall into place. Get people who are already in the industry and talk to them, just get to know the industry much better,” concludes Breyton.
As Robberg is for so many hikers, Breyton favours the famous Robberg Point Hike as his stand-out trail. To find out more about Robberg and many other hiking trails in the area, give the Plett Trails app a try. Download here: www.pletttrails.co.za
