Johnathan Paoli
THE national department of Tourism and the Gauteng department of Economic Development announced the upcoming National Tourism Careers Expo 2023 to be held at Nasrec, and expected to draw as many as 10 000 learners and teachers from across the country.
The Department of Tourism, Culture Arts, Tourism, Hospitality & Sport Education Training Authority (CATHSSETA), in conjunction with the Gauteng Department of Economic Development, and its provincial marketing agency, the Gauteng Tourism Authority, will be launching the collaborative effort, under the theme “Tourism Investments for People, Planet and Prosperity” from 29 September to 1 October.
Launching the NTCE 2023, the Deputy Minister of Tourism Fish Mahlalela said South Africa was rebuilding its tourism sector to ensure its sustainability for future generations.
“A robust recovery plan needs to be firmly anchored in a bold strategy that will position the economy on an upward trajectory and growth path. But to drive the growth and recovery of the tourism sector, we need to boost the talent pool, and therefore a demand-led skills supply is therefore pivotal,” said Mahlalela.
The ministry said that entrance to the NTCE 2023 will be free and include motivational talks by leading local tourism entrepreneurs and personalities, tourism educator seminars, exhibitions by local tourism products and related services.
This follows on the impact of Covid-19 and the slow but steady recovery of the tourism industry, as well as government’s attempts at mitigating the notoriously high youth unemployment rate.
However, the tourism sector in South Africa faces several impediments to growth and development, which obstruct job creation. Some of these challenges include crime, a lack of funding and skills, and immigration problems.
Tourism South Africa, the tourism marketing arm of the South African government, has previously come under serious criticism in parliament for receiving a qualified audit opinion from the Auditor General for the 2020/2021 financial year. The first time in 17 years that this had happened.
In addition, this follows on the recent compromise reached between Cabinet, the Tourism department, and organisations such as Afriforum, in effectively adjusting the Tourism Equity Fund (TEF) from 51% to 30% in the requirements for Black ownership in the R1.2 billion fund.
The TEF is an equity acquisition fund managed by the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa) on behalf of the Department of Tourism, with the purpose to promote the participation of Black enterprises within the tourism industry and provide a combination of debt finance and grant to facilitate equity acquisition and new project development in the tourism sector by black entrepreneurs.
The department said that it will capitalise the fund with an amount of R540 million, which will be matched by a contribution of R120m from the Small Enterprise Finance Agency, and R594m from commercial banks that will be participating in the programme.
Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille said last week that the target was to have the TEF fully disbursed by March next year and to develop and implement mechanisms to unlock the implementation of the TEF to ensure black ownership within the confines of the law and support small to medium enterprises in the tourism sector.
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