The Deputy Minister of Tourism Elizabeth Thabethe was in the North West on 5 March 2018 as part of the Enterprise Development Awareness campaign, which started in Gauteng last month. The campaign aims to create an awareness of opportunities offered to Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) through the Enterprise Development Programme by the Department of Tourism to ensure they become sustainable in the long term.

"This programme is part of the greater objective of the revised National Tourism Sector Strategy 2016 – 2026 that seeks to ensure sustainable development and growth of tourism enterprises in a manner that facilitates inclusive participation, job creation and contributes to the competitiveness of tourism destinations," said Deputy Minister Thabethe.

The Tourism Enterprise Development Programme provides training and support for emerging and existing tourism businesses to ensure their sustainability in the sector. The programme includes an incubator programme, which was first launched in 2016 in Pilanesberg with 50 incubatees. The incubator services are designed to address the identified needs of the SMMEs, and constant monitoring conducted by both the department's Monitoring and Evaluation as well as Enterprise Development units respectively.

"Our objective was to create an Enterprise Development Support Programme that is aligned to government's focus on SMMEs and through the programme, we hope to facilitate the process of transforming the sector, making it inclusive and accessible to new entrants, especially businesses owned and managed by the women and the youth," concluded the Deputy Minister.

The North West campaign also featured presentations and exhibitions from various financial institutions and private banks, who presented on their financial models and products available to support SMMEs.

ENDS.

For media enquiries:
Department of Tourism:                                               
Ms Susan de Bruin - Director: External Communication
Tel: 012 444 6605                                                             
E-mail: sdebruin@tourism.gov.za                                                       

Tourism Enterprise Development and Support Programme enquiries:

Department of Tourism:

Ms Morongoe Ramphele - Deputy Director General (DDG) Tourism Sector Support Services
Tel: 012 444 6552
E-mail: SMMEenquiries@tourism.gov.za