In one week (on Friday 8 May 2009) the top emerging tourism entrepreneur of South Africa will be revealed at South Africa’s premier travel trade show – Indaba 2009. The ETEYA Award (Emerging Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year Award) is an annual event which has traditionally seen some great tourism operators being recognised for their ability to start up and run viable businesses often with a very small capital outlay.
Entries are received from all over the country, and from this semi-finalists and then finalists are chosen from each of the nine provinces. The final winner is chosen from the nine provincial finalists.
The Tourism Enterprise Partnership (TEP) have taken an even more active role in the ETEYA Awards from 2009 as part of their vision to be the premier small business development partner for tourism. As official co-sponsors, together with South African Tourism and South African Breweries, the organisation has provided free of charge consulting services to the finalists including product and skills development to assist the tourism enterprises to grow from strength to strength.
During March 2009 TEP sponsored the nine provincial finalists to attend ITB in Germany. The aim of the trip was to provide international market access and exposure. TEP provided a two-day pre-ITB preparatory training session, supported them at the stand and debriefed them at the end of each day to improve the experience of a global tourism trade show.
TEP Chief Executive, Siva Pillay says: “ETEYA is one of those Awards which really align with the role of TEP. Our business is about finding and nurturing small tourism businesses around the country and our focus is on ensuring a consistent, sustainable, quality product and service delivery from smaller tourism offerings. ETEYA rewards entrepreneurs who achieve just this.”
TEP has had the opportunity to work with all the 2009 finalists of the ETEYA Awards providing mentorship and skills programmes suited to their particular needs.
The 9 finalists from each of the provinces are:
- Brenda Roopai, City of Choice Travel and Tours – Tour Operator category (KwaZulu-Natal)
- Tebogo Mametja, River Lodge Hoedspruit – Accommodation category (Limpopo)
- Maria Nyawula, Victoria Manor Guesthouse – Accommodation category (Eastern Cape)
- Lubabalo Mbontsi, eKasi Backpackers – Accommodation category (Western Cape)
- Meshack Nkadimang, Hotel Kgalagalagadi – Accommodation category (Northern Cape)
- Mathoto Tlokotsi, De Home Ekhaya Guesthouse – Accommodation category (Free State)
- Johannes Kaledi, Loving and Blessing Guest Lodge – Accommodation category (North West)
- Amos Mduli, Glowing Tourism Services – Travel Agency category (Mpumalanga)
- Melina Langa, Malangeni Lodge and Conference Centre – Accommodation category (Gauteng)
“Every one of the finalists is already a winner,” remarks Pillay. “They demonstrate our long held belief that South Africa has a wealth of hidden tourism offerings which need to be discovered, promoted and brought to market. This is the basis of our Hidden TreasuresTM Programme, and while these excellent products are being recognised through ETEYA, there are many hundreds of other great offerings which we are identifying for more effective promotion in the coming year.”
“It is not enough to just ensure the product is right and the skills are there to support the product, we also need to actively ensure that the right people are being exposed to the offering so that it will be used and visited. This is our new strategic process at TEP.”
This year’s ETAYA winner will be announced at an awards ceremony taking place on 8 May at the INDABA 2009 Travel and Tourism Expo (Durban International Convention Centre) and will walk away with R 100,000 prize money.
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[...] tour operator in KwaZulu-Natal has won the highly prestigious and keenly contested 2008 Emerging Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year Award (ETEYA) – and the R100,000 prize that goes with winning this South African Tourism, Tourism [...]