The final application window for the Tourism Transformation Fund (TTF) and the Green Tourism Incentive Programme (GTIP) is now open, South Africa’s Department of Tourism has announced.
The application window will remain open until March 31, 2020. The department urges all eligible tourism enterprises to submit fully completed applications forms within the timeframe and in accordance with the requirements of the TTF and GTIP programmes. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
The TTF
The Tourism Transformation Fund is a dedicated capital investment mechanism developed in collaboration with the National Empowerment Fund (NEF). It aims to assist small and micro black-owned tourism enterprises to expand, with the aim of creating a new generation of black-owned, youth, women, and community-based tourism operators. All applications and approvals for this programme are managed by the NEF.
The Fund provides a combination of grant funding from the Department as well as debt financing or equity contributions from the NEF to facilitate capital investment in the tourism sector by prospective black investors. The grant component is capped at 30% of the total funding approved by the NEF, up to a maximum of R5m (US$334 000) per applicant.
Application forms and supporting documents should be sent directly to the NEF. Information, application forms and guidelines are available on the NEF website.
Enquiries can be sent to tourism@nefcorp.co.za .
Green Tourism Incentive Programme
The GTIP is a resource efficiency support mechanism. Its objective is to encourage private-sector tourism enterprises to move toward the sustainable management of water and energy resources, and to adhere to responsible tourism practices. The Department, also through grant funding, assists private-sector tourism enterprises with reducing the cost of investing in more energy- and water-efficient operations.
THE GTIP offers the following to qualifying enterprises:
- 90% of the cost for a new resource-efficiency audit or the full cost for reviewing an existing resource efficiency audit by the National Cleaner Production Centre of South Africa; and
- grant funding to qualifying small and micro enterprises on a sliding scale from 30% to 90% of the total cost of implementing qualifying water and energy resource efficiency interventions, which is capped at R1 million (US$67 000).
The programme is managed by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) on behalf of the Department. All applications and approvals are handled by the IDC.
Application forms and supporting documents should be submitted directly to the IDC. Information, application forms, and guidelines are available on the IDC website.
Enquiries can be sent to gtip@idc.co.za
