IH and Associates is a consultancy, and the business development home of iain Harris.
Together with a network of thought leaders across diverse sectors and geographies, iain leads and contributes to business development projects and business ventures.
Explore our projects and businesses below.
Business Ventures
Coffeebeans Routes
Started in 2005, multi-award winning Coffeebeans has become the leading Pan-African cultural and creative tour operator, with tours in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Kigali and Nairobi, showcasing contemporary urban Africa.
Creative Travel Africa
Launched in 2018 as the Destination Management sister to Coffeebeans Routes, to facilitate longer form itineraries centred around the Coffeebeans specialist experiences and incorporating essential African wildlife, nature and adventures activities in several African countries.
Kurus English
Back in the years leading up to 2010, iain incubated and provided mentorship for the genesis of this game-changing English language business in Cape Town with its unique immersive Language Excursion programme. Started by German entrepreneur Johannes Kraus, Kurus continues to be a major client to both Coffeebeans Routes Creative Travel Africa (and Johannes a mentor of iain!)
Visit Langa
A collaboration between iain and Tony Elvin, the founder of the Langa Quarter social enterprise precinct, to bring to life and to market the tourism opportunities inherent within the Langa Quarter and within Langa broadly through the Quarter’s various partnerships.
Ice Cream Vanni Plain
Entrepreneur Iehsaan Small has been producing small batch ice creams from his home in Mitchells Plain township, Cape Town, since 2018. The flavours are named after Mitchells Plain neighbourhoods, and celebrate the people and history of this part of Cape Town. Iehsaan partnered with iain in 2021 to build capacity in growing the business.
Advisory & Management
Tourism Development Consulting
iain specialises in Pan-African urban cultural and creative tourism product development, with clients including the European Union and Western Cape Provincial Government. In 2022 iain and Coffeebeans Routes received the Recognised Leaders in Tourism Business Development - Africa award in the LuxLife Hospitality Awards.
Food Indaba
iain is the producer of the Food Indaba, a project of the South African Urban Food and Farming Trust. Food Indaba seeks to foster a healthier, more resilient and just food system, connecting with people shaping the future of food, and showcasing insights into our food culture.
Media adventures
Radio
iain has been a radio head since childhood, and was privileged at university to participate in radio documentary training at the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism. iain produced work for the Africa Search for Common Ground series in the 90s, Heart FM and GoodHope FM in the 2000s, and in more recent times has been producing his own projects.
Video
iain attended film school, and did a BA in English and Drama at the University of Cape Town. His video output has been focused on his tourism work. Click Learn More to meet a myriad of people as part of his series of shorts for Coffeebeans Routes and Kurus English.
Blog
Writing, ranting, video, radio … a collection of thoughts, sketches and contemplations on life and work, dating back to 2010
Biography
iain Harris is the creator of award winning Pan-African travel brand Coffeebeans Routes, and its DMC partner Creative Travel Africa.
iain is a theatre and film graduate with a bachelors degree in arts from the University of Cape Town, and various qualifications in media production from the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism. After a year living in Luanda, Angola in the late 90s teaching English as a foreign language, iain teamed up with a university friend to run a music company called Afribeat that went on to manage and record a diversity of significant Cape Town based musicians and release critically acclaimed albums.
For many years iain worked as a journalist for local and international publications, exploring the nexus of economics, art and culture.
In 2004 iain started urban specialist tour operator Coffeebeans Routes, building short form tours in Cape Town around musical figures he worked with on the label. The Jazz Safari was launched in 2005 and continues today to be the longest running musical tourism product on the continent. The Coffeebeans portfolio now includes experiences in several African capital centres, across a diverse range of themes including music, art, fashion, food, theatre and political history.
In 2018 iain launched Creative Travel Africa, a destination management company focused on long form regional travel programmes celebrating new narratives about and from Africa. Creative Travel Africa offers programmes in South Africa, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Kenya.
iain is the producer of the annual Food Indaba, a project of the South African Urban Food and Farming trust. During the two week programme of events in July and August, Food Indaba brings together role-players across the African food system, including policy makers and chefs, retailers and farmers, food scientists and philosophers.
iain has two children, loves travel, film, music, art and writing. He lives in Cape Town.
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