SATSA for the Entrepreneur

The Tourism Industry in Southern Africa is thriving and presents many opportunities for start up enterprises.

Although SATSA is not a business consultancy, we are committed to promoting SMME growth and dedicated to providing as much information to entrepreneurs wishing to start up in the tourism industry. SATSA membership is highly recommended for companies within the tourism industry, once operational.

We have, however developed a course for Tour Operators which has been very successfully delivered throughout the provinces and have had many success stories come out of this.  For further information please contact Lin Smith on lins@satsa.co.za

Once you have established your tourism business, remember to become a TOMSA Levy Collector – click here to download a document (150kb) about this fund that helps market South Africa as a whole, or go to www.tbcsa.org.za to read more

Other useful websites that provide information on establishing a business include:

• The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism – www.environment.gov.za
  Under the link “Projects and Programmes” the website provides information on the Tourism Business Development Projects and Programmes. Information is provided on transformation, the BEE Charter and Scorecard, funding, the SMME development programme, SMME training, SMME database for goods and services, the Tourism Enterprise Programme and Tourism investment promotion. The publication “How to start and grow your tourism business” can also be downloaded.
  
  
• The Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) – www.seda.org.za
  The SEDA website contains a vast amount of information on how to start a business, the legal issues, patents, business plans and much more. Entrepreneurs are bound to find this website useful.
  
  
• The Department of Trade and Industry - www.dti.gov.za
  The DTI website contains information on importing and exporting, legislation, economic statistics and BEE.
  
  
• The Competitions Commission South Africa - www.compcom.co.za
  The website contains information regarding anti-competitive conduct in contravention of the Chapter 2 of the Act; assessing the impact of mergers and acquisitions on competition and taking appropriate action; monitoring competition levels and market transparency in the economy; identifying impediments to competition and playing an advocacy role in addressing these impediments.
  
  
• The KwaZulu-Natal Tourism Authority - www.kzn.org.za/kzn/
  Under the link “For the Investor and Researcher” the website of the KwaZulu-Natal Tourism Authority contains information on investor opportunities, research reports, “How to” booklets, developers guides, useful links and funding support.

FUNDING

Various sources of funding exist for the start up of a tourism business. A summary of these funding sources is contained in the publication “How to start and grow your tourism business” which has been compiled by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and the Tourism Business Council of South Africa.

The booklet is available by following the link “Projects and Programmes” to the Tourism Business Development Projects and Programmes on DEAT’s website – www.environment.gov.za

RESEARCH AND INFORMATION

The sources of information on the tourism industry are listed below to provide SATSA members with greater insight to the industry.

Each source of information is listed with a brief description of how the information was collated so that SATSA members can make their own judgement on the validity of the information.

• South Africa Tourism – www.southafrica.net
  Under the link “Research” the website provide various research reports on the South African tourism industry. How recent the information is can be judged by the date that on which the reports were submitted as indicated with each report. The research reports include:
  
• Monthly reports that analyse foreign arrivals to South Africa. These reports are one page tables providing the number of foreign arrivals for a specific month, the year to date and a comparison with the same period in the previous year.
  
• Quarterly reports that analyse the foreign arrivals to South Africa over a specific quarter. These reports are based on surveys conducted at OR Tambo and Cape Town International Airport and 10 land border posts during a specific quarter. The reports include information on number of foreign arrivals, mode of travel, purpose of visit, length of stay, type of package, age profile, repeater rate, accommodation usage, provincial distribution and spend.
  
• Quarterly country reports that provide the same information as the quarterly reports but focus on specific source countries.
  
• Quarterly provincial reports that provide the same information as the quarterly reports, but which focus on arrivals to specific provinces.
  
• Annual reports that analyse the foreign arrivals to South Africa over a specific year.
  
• Domestic tourism reports that analyse domestic tourism in South Africa. These reports are based on surveys of residents across South Africa and provide information on the number of domestic trips, provincial distribution, length of stay, spend, trips characteristics, consumer profile and satisfaction ratings.
  
• Market segmentation reports that provide information on research conducted in key source markets. The reports contain a market overview, travel patterns, channel structure, competitors, consumers and activation strategy.
  
• A global competitiveness report conducted in 2003/04 providing insight into the drivers and barriers to growing tourism in South Africa.
  
• Tourism growth strategy reports that details the tourism growth strategy and domestic tourism growth strategy.
  
• Other reports, including a sports tourism report and a report detailing the role of tourism in the economy of South Africa
  
  
• The KwaZulu-Natal Tourism Authority - www.kzn.org.za/kzn/
  Under the link “For the Investor and Researcher” the website of the KwaZulu-Natal Tourism Authority contains research reports conducted by the Tourism Authority on the tourism industry in KwaZulu-Natal. The reports are based on surveys conducted by the KwaZulu-Natal Tourism Authority as well as information obtained from SA Tourism surveys.
  
  
• Cape Town Routes Unlimited - www.capetownroutesunlimited.com
  Under the link “Tourism Statistics” the website of Cape Town Routes Unlimited contains research reports conducted by the Tourism Authority on the tourism industry in the Western Cape. The reports are based on 700 surveys of tourists to the Western Cape conducted by Cape Town Routes Unlimited.
  
  
• Statistics South Africa - www.statssa.gov.za
  Statistics South Africa publishes monthly reports indicating the number of foreign arrivals to South Africa. This information is contained in their publication “P0351 – Tourism and Migration” which is available via the statistical publications link on their website.