This year, the Department of Tourism has provided funding for 30 small- to medium-sized enterprises to showcase their tourism offerings and products at WTM Africa, which kicked off on April 3 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).

Speaking at the opening of the trade show, the Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille, highlighted that since the start of the Market Access Programme, 410 beneficiaries received support to participate at international trade platforms, and 577 beneficiaries were supported to participate in South African travel trade shows for several years.

She said: “The return on investment (ROI) to the 410 Market Access Support Programme beneficiaries at international trade platforms is an estimated R265 million (€13m) in foreign exchange earnings from the R35 million (€2.1m) in government spending for those trade platforms.”

De Lille pointed out that an estimated 1,000 permanent jobs have been created by the SMEs due to this government support. “Of the 30 SMEs we are supporting at this event this year, 25 are majority black-owned, of which 16 are women-owned and two businesses are youth-owned.”

Half of the SMEs are tour operators, and the other half of the 30 SME exhibitors are accommodation service providers.

Some of the companies that the Department is supporting at WTM this year include:

• Nomusa and Jenny’s B&B, a black-owned business in Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal.
• Profound Travel and Tours, a youth-owned business from KZN that provides packaged tours and sightseeing and travel-related services.
• Under African Skies travel is 100% black women-owned and manages exclusive tourism services and tailor-made safaris.
• Travel Daring Adventures is a black- and women-owned business from Gauteng.
• Lapologa B&B from Tzaneen in Limpopo is also black- and women-owned.

“We have enabled their participation at this important platform, an invaluable opportunity to showcase their business offerings to the many buyers and investors here. To these business owners and to all emerging SMEs, I want to say that you are the lifeblood of this sector.

“Keep pushing and keep being part of offering visitors a truly South African experience. We are proud to support you, and we hope that your businesses grow from strength to strength,” said De Lille.