South Africa’s tourism industry is changing lives and increasingly shows that it is deserving of the label: “South Africa’s new Gold”. Transformation initiatives, BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) championing, and…
South Africa’s tourism industry is changing lives and increasingly shows that it is deserving of the label: “South Africa’s new Gold”. Transformation initiatives, BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) championing, and support given to emerging tourism entrepreneurs are starting to show tangible results and are opening the industry to people previously denied access to the economy.
National government has identified tourism as a key sector in its Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa to halve unemployment and poverty by 2014.
It is in this context that destination marketing organisation, South African Tourism, once again invites entries for the 2006 Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award (ETEYA) competition.
This is a unique opportunity, which will yet again expose selected Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) to the global market.
Despite the increasing popularity of South Africa as a tourism destination of choice, there is still a great deal of untapped potential, and ETEYA contributes towards extending the wealth, authenticity and diversity of South Africa’s tourism products and experiences.
ETEYA offers historically disadvantaged entrepreneurs in tourism an opportunity to showcase their products and services and to benefit from professional training, in order to augment and grow their businesses.
“While ETEYA remains a South African Tourism initiative, ABSA Bank’s generous sponsorship has been the backbone of its success. At this event, ABSA handed over a cheque of R1 254 750. This figure, which is 5% up from last year, underscores ABSA’s growing commitment to the programme, and this is hugely encouraging for us,” enthuses Mr. Moeketsi Mosola, CEO of South African Tourism.
The competition culminates in the finalists from each province being sponsored to go to the World Travel Market in London, in order to display their product on a global platform. An overall winner and first and second runners up are selected for cash prizes, to the value of R50 000, R30 000 and R15 000 respectively. The prize money is to be used to further their businesses.
“ABSA sees the value of the tourism sector to the economy of our country, and we believe that transformation within this sector is imperative. Our sponsorship of the ETEYA competition is our contribution towards fast tracking the process of transformation, and ensuring that SMME’s are given the opportunity to grow and flourish in the tourism sector. We look forward to another successful year of working with SA Tourism on the ETEYA competition,” said
This year, a decision has been made that community projects will not be allowed to enter, as the panel of judges believes that one individual’s efforts cannot be fairly judged against those of a group of people.
All finalists benefit from being strongly marketed, through media profiles, corporate audio-visual marketing promotions and SMME Tourism directory listings.
Furthermore, finalists participate in training academies in order to share best practices with industry experts, and are trained in presentation skills and marketing.
Entries for ETEYA 2006 close on 19 May, and forms are available at the Provincial Tourism Authorities, Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT), Tourism Enterprise Programme (TEP), Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (SATSA), Tourism Grading Council of South Africa (TGCSA) and on the South African Tourism website.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
