Fund sets out to build equality in tourism

The tourism sector remains one of the untransformed sectors in the economy, thus making very little contribution to the elimination of inherited economic inequalities. The transformation imperative is underpinned by the reality that, over the years, growth in the tourism sector has largely benefited existing players and the industry is far from being representative. Currently, less than 45% of businesses in the sector comply with the set ownership targets of 30% as per the broad-based BEE tourism sector codes. A pre-Covid-19 survey showed that blackowned new entrants across the various subsectors of the tourism economy — accommodation, hospitality and travel — average around 10%. Ownership of tourism enterprises by black women is about 15%.

The Covid-19 pandemic has accentuated the painful persistence of SA’s apartheid fault lines. Many studies have shown that black women, especially in the rural areas, have been the worst affected by the pandemic. Though the full impact of the Covid-19 crisis on tourism is yet to be determined, what is already clear is that the sector has been deeply scarred. The pandemic has been devastating for the tourism industry in general, but the impact on the few black-owned enterprises is such that transformation has significantly regressed.

Unavoidably, and rightly, the calls for an urgent intervention to advance transformation have been getting louder, not only to ensure an inclusive recovery but also to place the sector on a long-term sustainable growth trajectory. Transforming the tourism sector has been on the agenda for the department of tourism for some time. In this connection, in 2017, the department convened a transformation summit that brought together tourism stakeholders. The summit noted with concern that only one in 10 tourism enterprises had black shareholding. The summit resolved:

To recommend that the department explores an equity fund to support majority black-owned and -controlled tourism enterprises; and