ETEYA 2009 provincial semi-finalists announced

Entries for the South African Tourism and South African Breweries’ (SAB) annual award have grown by more than 30 percent this year

After a rigorous judging process, 27 travel and tourism businesses have been announced as the 2009/10 Emerging Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year Award (ETEYA) semi-finalists.

Last year’s award attracted 151 entries. When entries closed at the end of June this year, 206 businesses had entered, representing a 30 percent increase in entries. These semi-finalists represent guest houses, lodges, conference centres, car hire and shuttle services, tour operators, taverns and restaurants.

Hanneli Slabber, Global Manager: Product at South African Tourism says this is encouraging indeed and points to a growing industry and to more people building careers, and creating jobs for others in tourism.

Tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy and historically disadvantaged people are finding opportunities to start businesses and make a good living out of this robust industry. This year’s awards are dominated by women with 18 out of the 27 businesses being women-owned.

“It gets harder every year to choose the semi-finalists as the entries get better and better. This is a show of the passion and hard work that emerging entrepreneurs are putting into their businesses. We hope that through ETEYA, we can help put these businesses on the map, assist in job creation and increase the quality of service delivery in the industry.”

Three semi-finalists representing each province have been selected from the 206 entrants. A finalist from each province will be announced at World Tourism Day celebrations that take place on September 29 in Kimberley.

September is Tourism Month in South Africa. Celebrations each year rotate between the country’s lesser visited provinces, with Northern Cape hosting 2009’s World Tourism Day celebrations.  It is also fitting that the finalists for ETEYA will be announced at the World Tourism Day celebrations as part of South Africa’s celebration of Tourism Month.

One of this province’s shortlisted candidates, Neiso Mophule from Repa Guest House says the Northern Cape is ripe for new businesses ventures in tourism.  “We have many hidden gems that visitors are unaware of. This makes it the perfect place for budding entrepreneurs like me to seize these opportunities and show just what the province has to offer.”

Says Chris Meyiwa, SAB’s Enterprise Development Manager: “ETEYA is about more than just winning an award. Candidates are taken through rigorous training programmes to help develop their businesses through mentorship, marketing and networking opportunities to create really sustainable business ventures. We congratulate all those who have made it to the semi-finals and wish them well on the journey to become well equipped, leading entrepreneurs.”

These semi-finalists were chosen based on their level of business acumen that examined their strategic business planning, leadership, financial records, marketing, social responsibility, people management and customer service.