Gauteng women make strides in tourism

Johannesburg – As South Africa marks Tourism Month in September, Gauteng’s women have made significant in-roads into the sector. South African Tourism research studies show that Gauteng consistently receives the highest number of tourists, averaging the equivalent of 50 percent (3.6million in 2005) of all arrivals in the country.

Over 30 percent (19.5 million) per annum of bed nights are spent in the province. In 2006 the number of receipts in the country increased by 14 percent. The majority of those hosting and guiding visitors throughout the sector are women.

Gauteng Tourism Authority (GTA) Chief Executive Officer, Advocate Adv.Cawe Mahlati, attests to this: ” Women can be found solidly anchored along the tourism value chain – running B&B’s, as tour operators & guides, conference conveners & hostesses; convention bureau managers, restaurateurs – hospitality industry suppliers, arts & curio designers, creators, vendors and drivers of business and destination management organisations, the list is endless.

“It is without question that women throughout our province and country are absolutely committed to keeping the sector alive with enormous possibilities for all to enjoy”.

The Gauteng Tourism Authority is tasked with being the strategic leader of tourism in Gauteng because, despite not having natural wonders like the mountains and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, Gauteng is a province of contrast and vibrancies in abundance.

Over and above culture and heritage sites that draw visitors’ year on year, Gauteng is a province where big business converges, the home of champions and sporting heroes and heroins, not to mention the shopping Mecca for north, west and east Africa.

“At the helm of each of these tourism experiences we find women representing South Africa’s diverse race groups, women of all ages and life stages,” Adv Mahlati said. Women remain proactive in the development of tourism products and GTA’s role is to guide and support this spirit of entrepreneurship and patriotism.

“These women are also ambassadors who host and interface with groups and individuals from far and wide on a day to day basis.
“Sector agencies therefore make it their core business to provide information, technical support including training and quality assurance to foster a sustainable sector that can be celebrated as practicing and achieving triple bottom line success in a democracy as young as ours,” the CEO explained.

Success stories in the provincial tourism sector abound. Fikile Nkosi owns a bed and breakfast establishment in Germiston, Ekurhuleni. Until a few years ago, few people knew about Khokumoya B&B.

“But things have changed, thanks to Indaba”. The Tourism Indaba is one of the annual premier exhibitions in the tourism sector and affords entrepreneurs like Ms Nkosi an opportunity to sell their products to international travel operators.

These operators negotiate deals with local tour operators, safari groups, hotels, bed and breakfast establishments, travel companies and other tourism representatives. “It’s one of those events that you cannot miss if you’re involved in the tourism sector. It provides you with valuable ideas and opportunities that can grow your business,” she said emphatically.

Ms Nkosi was one of the 15 Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) that were afforded the opportunity by GTA. “The highlights for me were the deals that I clinched. “I am hosting visitors from the United Kingdom that I met at Indaba; I have been invited by a group of people from Uganda to share ideas with them and I have also established a relationship with Malawi’s tourism body.”

The GTA and its partners have vowed to continue in efforts to lower the barriers to entry and continue to facilitate opportunities of better knowledge and access to industry materials, skills development and training.

“The empowerment of women has been at the forefront of our national liberation struggle. Across sectors, women in South Africa play a fundamental role in the development of our economy, productive communities and the eradication of poverty,” Adv Mahlati said.

Source: www.allafrica.com

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