Agri-Tourism & Hospitality Manager

Merweville, Great Karoo | Live-in | Reports to owners

Our client is a growing rural business in the Great Karoo that combines a working aquaponics farm, licensed tea garden and deli, wine boutique, guest cottages and visitor experiences. They produce dried herbs, essential oils and coffee sold in-house and online. Our client needs a hands-on, self-motivated manager to run day-to-day operations and help grow the business alongside the owners, who are not always on site.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage the tea garden and deli: opening and closing, front of house, food and beverage standards, kitchen support.

• Oversee guest cottages including bookings, guest communication, housekeeping, maintenance and safety.

• Deliver warm, professional guest experiences; handle complaints and drive positive reviews and repeat visits.

• Supervise, train and develop a small local team using bilingual SOPs, including rosters, attendance and performance management.

• Control daily cash-ups, stock, food and beverage costs, purchasing and weekly owner reporting.

• Process farm products from packing and labelling through sale in the tea garden and online; dispatch online orders.

• Market the destination, develop packages and events, build tourism partnerships and identify new revenue opportunities.

Requirements

• Proven hospitality management experience, ideally across food and beverage and guest accommodation.

• Experience managing and training staff.

• Sound financial and stock control including cash-ups, stock records, cost control and Excel reporting.

• Practical, independent and comfortable working without daily supervision.

• Entrepreneurial approach with drive to grow revenue.

• Fluent communication in English and Afrikaans.

• Willing to live in Merweville and embrace a remote rural lifestyle with long supplier distances.

Preferred

• Experience in agri-tourism, farm hospitality, guest farms or country lodges.

• Retail, online shop, POS systems or social media marketing experience.

• Basic understanding of off-grid utilities (solar, generator, borehole water).

• Current driver's licence.

Benefits

• Basic montly salary

• On-site live-in accommodation with WiFi, electricity and water included.

• Two meals per week from the tea garden.

• 10 days' paid leave every 8 weeks, in addition to annual leave.