Transformation in South Africa as a whole has gained powerful, ever-increasing momentum since beloved global icon, Nelson Mandela, initiated a new era of balancing the inequalities across cultures and genders in the country.
But “we should start by analysing the word ‘transformation’,” says Charmaine Beukes, Managing Director of White Sharks Projects. “In traditional business vocabulary, this would refer to a process of profound and radical change that puts a business in a new direction and takes it to a different level of effectiveness. In the South Africa of today, I believe transformation should still serve the same purpose. It is not a turnaround strategy, but rather the implementation of a new character of the business. One of the key factors that is often missed in transformation conversations is the up-skilling of staff. I believe investing in a single person and transforming his or her life from ground level, no-skilled or middle-skilled to management, is an example of radical transformation. If we say one job in tourism benefits 12 people, one upskilled staff member will ensure that 12 people will have a higher standard of living.”
In this vein, the tourism industry has initiated, over the years, an abundance of projects and programmes to upskill, empower, educate and integrate industry players and stakeholders, across the cultural and gender spectrum, into the SA tourism sector.
From an umbrella perspective, government’s Department of Tourism created a Tourism Transformation Fund (TTF), a partnership with the National Empowerment Fund (NEF), to inject R340m (€21.4m) into the tourism sector, over three years, to bring about meaningful transformation. Through this fund, businesses that are predominantly owned and run by black women, youth and people with disabilities stand the chance of securing up to R5m (€314 700). Projects submitted by applicants must trigger empowerment, destination development, job creation and skills development. Those wishing to apply can click here.
Local tourism stakeholders are getting involved in empowerment initiatives in their capacities, with each programme and outreach adding into the greater transformative goal. Here are some successful initiatives that tourism in South Africa can be proud of.
The Tourism Conservation Fund (TCF) has a strong focus on transformation. “It’s about building more shared value for people who have been previously excluded,” says CEO, Paul Zille. “The TCF is all about building shared value, where we look at feeding into the creation of a more inclusive economy, where people who were historically excluded, are structurally included. We are all about transformation, with the next destination on our compass being to run youth employment training, and enterprise development.”
Nickol and Partners collaborated with Tsogo Sun to immerse a group of underprivileged youths from Alexandra township in the hotel and hospitality industry. The in-situ experience gave the individuals personal insight into how a national hotel chain operates. Nickol and Partners also runs an ongoing community tourism programme in the township, which has uplifted numerous community businesses.
In late June, the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Elizabeth Thabethe, together with Eastern Cape Premier, Phumulo Masualle, attended the conclusion of the National Youth Chef and Food Safety Programme, which promulgated the training and employment of youths as chefs, energy efficiency officers, food safety assurers, and tour guides nationwide. The programme initiated in 2011.
The annual Women In Tourism networking dinner, held at Africa’s Travel Indaba in May this year, has had 300 female delegates interacting through the programme, which aims to create a platform for radical socio-economic transformation and integration of women from different socio-economic backgrounds. Deputy Minister of Tourism, Elizabeth Thabethe, said:“The Networking Dinner sessions have provided a unique platform for women in the tourism industry, stakeholders and experts, to share ideas on building strong business skills and leadership capabilities amongst women. The ultimate goal is to enhance and nurture more top leaders, entrepreneurs and industrialists in the sector.”
The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism has a Tourism BEE Charter in place, which aims at developing and advancing sector initiatives to empower black South Africans. The Charter “expresses the commitment of all stakeholders in the tourism sector to the empowerment and transformation of the sector and its commitment to working collectively to ensure that the opportunities and benefits of the tourism sector are extended to black South Africans as well”. A scorecard is in place which applies to all privately-owned enterprises, including accommodation, hospitality, and travel distribution systems, which scores businesses according to direct empowerment, human resource development, and indirect empowerment through preferential procurement and enterprise development.
