Tourism funding applications now open

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Tourism Transformation Fund

The TTF is a dedicated capital investment mechanism that was developed in collaboration with the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) to drive transformation in the tourism sector in a more direct and impactful manner. It aims to assist small and micro black-owned tourism enterprises to expand and grow with the goal of creating a new generation of black-owned, youth, women and community-based tourism operators. All applications and approvals for this programme are managed by the NEF.

The Fund provides a combination of grant funding from the Department and debt financing or equity contributions from the NEF to facilitate capital investment in the tourism sector by prospective black investors. The grant funding portion from the Department is used to reduce the approved loan finance and/or equity contribution by the NEF for tourism projects. The grant component is capped at 30% of the total funding approved by the NEF up to a maximum of R5m per applicant.

Applicants should submit their application forms and supporting documents directly to the NEF, who will assess applications for commercial viability and TTF eligibility.

Information, application forms and guidelines are available on the NEF website and enquiries can be directed to az.oc.procfen@msiruot.

Green Tourism Incentive Programme

The GTIP is a resource efficiency support mechanism with the objective to encourage private sector tourism enterprises to move towards the sustainable management of water and energy resources whilst adhering to responsible tourism practices. Through grant funding, the Department assists private sector tourism enterprises with reducing the cost of investing in more energy and water-efficient operations, while increasing their competitiveness and profitability in the long term.

This programme is managed by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) on behalf of the Department and all applications and approvals are managed by the IDC.

The GTIP broadly offers the following to qualifying tourism enterprises:

• 90% of the cost for a new resource-efficiency audit or the full cost for reviewing an existing resource efficiency audit by the National Cleaner Production Centre of South Africa; and

• Grant funding to qualifying small and micro enterprises on a sliding scale from 30% to 90% of the total cost of implementing qualifying water and energy resource efficiency interventions, which is capped at R1m.

GTIP applicants should submit their application forms and supporting documents directly to the IDC, who will assess the applications. Information, application forms and guidelines are available on the IDC website and enquiries can be directed to az.oc.cdi@pitg.