Seekoei is living her dream and watches as business grows
Passion for tourism crowned with businesswoman of the year award
From a simple life on a farm in rural Northern Cape Noncedo Seekoei, 36, has grown into a top business owner in the province.
Seekoei was crowned Northern Cape Businesswoman of the Year at the Mme Re Ka Thusa Trust Fund’s Rock-Solid Conference in Kimberley recently, walking away with R70 000. Established only in 2016, her business Karoo Travel Dimensions has grown quickly. With some assistance from government and private funders, Seekoei has expanded from offering only horsecart tours to adventure tours, city tours, historical tours and special interest tours. Seekoei already employs two full-time workers and two interns. She grew up in poor circumstances on a farm outside Colesberg. Her mother was a domestic worker and her father a construction worker.
After matric she studied tourism management at Walter Sisulu University in East London. “Tourism has always been my passion, so I started my business in 2009.
“But then I won the New Venture Competition from the department of economic development and tourism, and got a job in the tourism office of the Emthanjeni municipality until 2015.
“Then in 2016 I decided that I wanted to follow my passion of running my own tourism business,” says Seekoei. She managed to secure funding and bought herself a nine-seater horsecart and office furniture to start her business.
“I am happy at how we have grown. We are now planning to open two new offices. The government has also helped a lot by opening the doors into the tourism industry. “Today some of the municipalities even use some of my services,” she says. Seekoei is the perfect example of a passionate, hard-working woman.
She manages bookings of flights and car rentals, does guesthouse grading and helps to design and implement tourism strategies in the municipalities.
She recently registered with the Sector Education and Training Authority to become a tourism facilitator, so that she can further contribute to the industry.
“With tourism, you cannot be relaxed. The tourism industry is quite seasonal, so I work hard to make sure that I continue growing myself.” Seekoei says that people who want to become business owners should follow their passion to become successful in their chosen areas of business.
“You need to be passionate about the sector that you want to go into, and keep on educating yourself about the industry,” said Seekoei.
This story first appeared in GCIS’s Vukuzenzele
You need to be passionate about the sector you’re interested in