Until now, a conversation between inbound tour operators and tourism SMMEs hasn’t happened. However, engagement between inbound operators and SMMEs is key to driving market access for the latter, as inbound tour operators are best placed to get SMME products into international travel brochures and tour packages.
This was the message from Satsa CEO, David Frost, opening the Gauteng SMME Tourism Indaba, at the Kliptown Conference Centre in Soweto on Monday. The Indaba is being hosted in partnership between Satsa, the Gauteng Tourism Authority (GTA) and Joburg Tourism and aims to create opportunities for emerging tourism businesses to tap into the inbound tourism market.
[AdZone][AdZoneGiant]
“I don’t think we have done transformation particularly well in our sector,” said Frost. He explained that the approach in the past has been to round up black-owned tourism business and take them to Indaba, where they meet with international operators. However, he said, the international operators inevitably asked if the SMME had spoken to their inbound operator, which is usually where the conversation dries up. He added that this approach had proved to be “suboptimal”.
Frost said it was because of the key role the inbound tour operator played in the tourism sector that the SMME Tourism Indaba aimed to start the conversation between inbound operators and SMMEs. He added that the aim was to host more such Indabas and also roll out the initiative in other provinces.
Also speaking at the opening, Siphiwe Ngwenya, CEO of Gauteng Tourism, said the Indaba was an important opportunity for engagement with tourism SMMEs. Gauteng MEC for Economic Development, Environment, Agriculture and Rural Development, Lebogang Maile, said his department was excited about the interaction over the next two days and hoped for honest and frank discussions.
As part of the initiative, 60 SMMEs will participate in speed marketing to introduce their products and services to roughly 40 established inbound operators.
