Strengthening small businesses in the tourism sector within the Western Cape

NEED

The tourism industry has proved to be a good tool for job creation within South Africa. However, many of the opportunities in this sector are not being exploited in a way that includes communities in the tourism value and supply chain. Developing small businesses that can supply goods and services to the industry will significantly enhance job creation opportunities, especially in rural areas.

Established tourism routes can act as a good base to take up goods and services provided by rural communities, but operators do not have the time or experience to investigate and develop such opportunities.

OVERVIEW

To date Open Africa has 60 travel routes in 6 different countries in Southern Africa. These routes are made up of 2 626 community based enterprises that employ over 30 500 individuals. Open Africa has five key objectives when creating their routes, namely:

• Promote responsible tourism that does not damage the environment or surrounding communities in any way;
• The routes offer a real African experience;
• The routes are self-drivable and a 4x4 is not necessary on most of the routes;
• The routes are handpicked for their natural beauty and/or cultural values; and
• The overall contribution to the socio-economic upliftment of rural areas.

The organisation would like to use future funding to provide additional support to already existing routes. This support will include:

• A revisit of the route forum
• Development of an action plan with clear outcomes
• Drafting of a route constitution and registration the route
• Collection of up-dated information of all participants
• Linking the route to the provincial marketing authority
• Collection and sharing of the success stories from other routes as well as best practice examples
• Printing of marketing material for the route and accompanied by a dedicated marketing campaign
• The definition of monitoring and evaluation indicators for each project and
• The write up of funder reports each quarter.

WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT THIS PROJECT

• The reason why a large amount of small businesses fail is due to a lack of access to markets. The establishment of tourist routes is a unique idea within the enterprise development sector in South Africa that in essence is creating marketing channels for small enterprises.
• The organisation has a good track record that is supported by a management team with many key strengths.
• The additional support for already existing routes is part of an overall strategy that seeks to increase the effectiveness and impact of this organisation.

IMPACT HIGHLIGHTS

An investment of R187 250 will cover 100% of the project budget which will support the consolidation of one already existing route in the Western Cape.

The funding will be used to strengthen the existing route through the support mechanisms mentioned above. A large focus will be given to the marketing of the route through the implementation of a carefully monitored marketing campaign.

ORGANISATION CAPACITY

Open Africa has adopted an approach that works from the ground up. The first step in the formation of a route is a feasibility study that is done by one of the Open Africa team members at the site of the small enterprises that are to make up the route. This allows the organisation to understand the needs of those particular communities as well as gather information about the enterprises to be included in the particular route.

Although there are still many routes that could be formed within South Africa, Open Africa has realised a need to go back to existing routes in order to provide additional support to the small enterprises. The team of individuals at Open Africa has a diverse skill set that together will enable this process to be implemented in a way that should bring a great amount of value to the small enterprises.

The focus on identifying monitoring and evaluation indicators for each small enterprise is a new part of this organisations strategy which will enable them to track impact in a more effective manner.

PROJECT PROFILE

Key Strengths

• Design: Open Africa uses small enterprises that are already in existence and offers a greater amount of sustainability for these organisations by increasing public awareness through extensive online marketing.
• Sustainability: This organisation is sustainable as their income comes from a highly diverse pool of funders. They operate in such a way that maintains a good use of their resources.
• Control: A large amount of control lies within the organisation due to the innovativeness of the project they run. The unique strategy is supported by good systems that have been adapted over time to reflect a model which is seen as best practice within this sector.
• Capability: This organisation was established in 1995 and has a good track record of growth and impact. The management team is highly capable to run the organisation effectively.

Key Risks - Low

• Concept: This type of project has not been implemented in South Africa before and so runs the risk of failure to achieve its objectives. The impact of Open Africa will largely be seen in the longer term as the routes become more popular and the concept better understood by the public.