Walk & Talk Tours CC is a tourism company founded with the objective of combining the pleasurable and therapeutic activity of walking and talking with introducing South Africa to not only inbound tourists but also to South Africans, educating them about parts of our country that they would not normally consider visiting.

Beryl Porter, a successful Sandton business person and a gregarious walking fanatic, developed a vision of combining walking with self guided touring via the mechanism of route maps and street signs marking areas or sites with cellular telephone numbers.  The tourist would stop at a marked site, call the telephone number displayed on the sign and/or map and then listen to the informative three minute commentary on that site.   Should one go home and forget about the site or area, then one with the aid of the brochure map one would be able to call in and recall the information as easily as touching a button. In the one hour Sandton tour, dubbed the "Richest Square Mile in Africa” commentary is available in eight languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Mandarin, Zulu and Sotho.

This tourism system has since been patented. The tour is supported by a "z” fold brochure bearing the Proudly South African Logo and is available at all hotels, travel agents, tour operators, airports, shopping centres, AA outlets, bed and breakfasts, markets, schools etc. The brochures are held in a cardboard holder again reflecting the Proudly South African Logo and also supported by a DVD cartoon explaining how the self guided system works.

In November, a new route has subsequently been developed The Inner City Arts and Culture Tour - Cultural Arc -  encompassing the Constitution Hill Development and the new Woman’s Jail Museum. Included are interesting sites in Braamfontein including Hospital Hill, Watkins Pitchford Building, Metro Centre, The Johannesburg Civic Theatre, SAPPI Gardens, SAPPI Paper Museum, S A Ballet Theatre and The National School of the Arts. In addition, a Labyrinth has been constructed within the Woman’s Jail complex, in tribute to the women that suffered in the jail, and allows the visitor a chance to experience the feeling of peacefulness and centering when the Labyrinth is walked. This is the first tour of stepping out into "freedom” from Constitution Hill and the Woman’s Jail.

Further plans are to expand this tour to include the other strands joining onto the first Stepping Out to Freedom  Route to encompass going through Braamfontein, past the University of the Witwatersrand, over Mandela Bridge, into Newtown, Chinatown, Main Street Mall, Ghandi Square, Clothing District, Rissik Street and circling back to Constitution Hill.  Other "Stepping Out To Freedom Routes” from Constitution Hill to the North, East and West are planned over the next twelve months.
 
As support and in addition to the above, specialist guided tours have been developed. These tours are conducted by experts in their area and field and include the specialist areas of Kensington / Troyeville, Emmarentia / Melville Koppies, Killarney / Zoo / Zoo Lake / Saxonwald / Houghton, Downtown Johannesburg, Alexandra Township, Soweto, Parktown / Westcliff, Park to Park (Ernest Ullman Park to Innesfree Park and back), Norscot Manor and Kingfisher Reserve, etc.

Walk & Talk Tours have also created the concept of Dinner Hop Tours around the city for relaxed evening tours where various dinner courses are offered at sites of interest culminating in a grand finale site where guests can then either continue the evening at an entertainment venue or hop back into their own transport. Walk & Talk Tours have developed several dinner hop routes and have always found innovative and interesting sites to promote Proudly South African sites, venues, restaurants, entertainers. shows, hotels, bed and breakfasts and caterers. This concept of tour is usually customised around client’s preferences for modes of transport, areas of interest etc.
 
Finally, many of the marked sites will be supported by trained site guides drawn from the ranks of the unemployed. These guides will be identified by wearing T-shirts, caps and badges displaying the Walk & Talk Tours logo. They will be able to impart further local knowledge of each of the sites and demonstrate their pride and enthusiasm to the tourists, both local and international and give witness to the expression "Proudly South African”.

Walk & Talk Tours are in discussion and negotiation with business improvements districts, regional councils and tourism bodies to expand their tour concept to the Plettenberg Bay, Garden Route, Nelson Mandela Bay, Cape Town, Durban, Midlands Meander, Limpopo Province and surrounding areas to whom such routes that could benefit from the self guided tour innovation.

All our activities are unique in that they promote local culture and local content to South Africans as well as international tourists in that they take our guests into parts of our country that they might never visit either because of lack of promotion, or infrastructure or accessibility. The self guided system in Sandton and the planned system for the Inner City educates people about the important architecture, historical buildings and landmarks of the city. Bringing the "Nation to the Hill” and "The Hill to the Nation” is our objective of the Constitution Hill tour and finally the "Cultural Arc” tour linking our stupendous cultural and historical sites between Braamfontein and the Inner City will truly draw the South African tourist back into the city to marvel again at the sites of interest so rich in history that have just been recreated and reinvigorated or have become forgotten and deserve to be found again.

Every input into the Walk & Talk Tours enterprise has been developed and sourced from within South Africa including our graphic designers incorporating local design icons, cartoon artists, brochure designers and printers, map designers, script writers, translators, tour guides, voice over artists, distributors and tourism partners.

Walk and Talk Tours contributes to the cultural tourism in SA in that its unique concept encourages people to come onto the streets and experience the local culture by feeling and touching.

In using local communities and in particular schools to help develop routes around their areas and sites of interest, making commentaries and doing voiceovers into different languages also helps to foster an attitude of learning and pride in their area in each of the schools exposed to our system.

Walk & Talk Tours are encouraging visitors, both local and overseas to explore areas of Sandton and Johannesburg that they may not normally visit. The use of local guides or local input into the tours ensures that money spent by the tourist helps to stay in the area adding to the economy of the area visited. Further, the increase in tourism and exposure of previously less visited sites truly helps to foster a spirit of pride by South Africans in the history and achievements of their city and country.

In working with local Business Improvement Districts and Tourism Associations  and encouraging the interaction between the two to add value to the tourism potential of their area results in an increase in tourism in their area and consequential increase in the revenue derived by these sites.

Walk and Talk tours promotes the development of accredited specialist site guides with the personal enthusiasm of showing off a site and bringing a new dimension and new look to tourism and being Proudly South African.

Walk & Talk Tours CC (W&T) has been operating since September 1999. Our itineraries and supporting documentation include Sandton; Alexandra Township:  Kensington/Troyeville; Melville Koppies / Emmarentia; Parktown / Westcliff; Killarney/Zoo/Zoo Lake/ Saxonwold/ Houghton; Braamfontein;  Newtown and the ‘West End’, that covers Diagonal Street and Chinatown and Johannesburg City Centre.  Our Freedom Tour embraces struggle history featuring destinations from Lilliesleaf Farm in Rivonia in the north of Johannesburg, via Constitution Hill, to museums and sites in the south of Johannesburg and in to Soweto.

Walk & Talk Tours is therefore able to offer an extensive ‘reservoir’ of guided tours, material, writer/researchers with an appreciation and detailed knowledge as well as a library of scripts covering the historic, artistic, architectural and cultural aspects of major sites for Johannesburg together with an infrastructure for setting up new routes, maps and consulting services.

SELF-GUIDED INFORMATION SYSTEM

A patented electronic system that allows tourists and locals to be their own adventurer and discover an area in combination with a route map and strategically placed sign boards.  The first completed route is Sandton - "Explore the Richest Square Mile in Africa!”

SPECIALIST GROUP TOURS

Specialist Group Tours are available for booking eight (8) people or more.  Available routes are: Sandton; Downtown Johannesburg; Kensington/Troyeville,

Melville Koppies; Alexandra Township (coach tour); Killarney/Zoo/Zoo Lake/ Saxonworld/ Houghton; Country Tour of Sandton - Park to Park; Constitution Hill / Braamfontein/ Newtown/Johannesburg; Other itineries on request.


DINNERHOPS

An experience with a true African flavour.  Routes take you on an enjoyable journey (on transport) to a variety of venues to enjoy different courses and entertainment. Set packages are available or can be tailor-made on request.


LABYRINTH

Walk and Talk Tours are labyrinth consultants and can install labyrinths on sites using different material. A portable labyrinth is also available for all occasions with value added packages or tailor-made as per requirements.