[Indaba 2011] Marketing efforts, big dreams triumph at ETEYA Tourism Awards

Left to right: ECPTA tourism enterprise manager Keketso Kostile, MEC Mcebisi Jonas, ETEYA second-prize winner Bassie Ngozwana and ECPTA executive Eddie Marafane.

click to enlarge

Established in November 2005, Bassie Travel Centre (BTC) initially had problems obtaining recognition in the industry, let alone getting businesses to move it forward, thanks to lack of experience and expertise and clients' trust, Ngozwana (40), a former social worker and Walter Sisulu University employee, said.

Aggressive marketing campaign

She then decided to adopt an aggressive marketing campaign, which included media, regular networking, word-of-mouth and printing T-shirts and asking people to visit its website, and knocking on her former employers' doors, including the provincial department of social development.

Within six months of operations, her business made a fantastic breakthrough, with people flocking to the offices to open accounts and asking her agency to handle their travel package accounts, which include accommodation, air tickets, visas, car rentals, cruise adventures and airport transfers.

Tourism minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk, SA Tourism CEO Thandiwe January-Mclean with all overall 2011 Eteya winner Kagiso Legobe, while other laureates look on

click to enlarge

Today, she is doing business with local municipalities, various provincial government departments and MECs, as well as the Office of the Premier.

Hires only the best

Ngozwana urged people to prove themselves in this industry if they aspire to be among the best, revealing that she hires only the best travel consultants to ensure that her services exceed her clients' expectations.

And last week, those efforts were awarded when she was awarded the overall second prize of R75 000 - the first runner-up behind the overall winner - at the 2011 Emerging Tourism Entrepreneur for the Year Awards (ETEYA) in Durban at Indaba 2011.

"I thank the SA Tourism for introducing ETEYA, which I must admit helped me market my business abroad," she said. "It is just fantastic to have [those] SAT and SAA logos behind you, and you have no idea how it feels like."

Dignitaries posing with Lorraine Chitate, Eteya second runner-up

click to enlarge

Tender to do business in Germany

Thanks to ETEYA and SA Tourism, BTC, which is part of the SA Travel Centre Consortium (a retail travel consortium franchise), won a tender to do business in Germany with its local travel agencies.

"The international venture kicks off in August, and, believe me, I'm ready!" said Ngozwana.

BTC also recently joined SAA subsidiary South African Travel Group, Africa's second-largest travel consortium.

Ngozwana complained bitterly to Bizcommunity.com about the lack of media coverage of Eastern Cape SMEs, saying that unfair advantage is given to white counterparts in the same industry who do better and better, thanks to the exposure.

"Show professionalism and expertise"

"This is still very much a white-dominated industry, but for a black entrepreneur to survive in there and break through, you will have to show professionalism and expertise. So the survival of your business depends on how you handle your clients and how you market yourself locally and internationally."

Kagiso Legobe is the 2011 overall ETEYA winner (R100 000 prize), while other laureates include second runner-up Lorraine Chitate of Zanami Lodge (Limpopo) and third runner-up Michael Gumede of eBandla Hotel and Conference Centre in KwaZulu-Natal.

For more:

• Bassie Travel Centre: www.bassietravel.co.za
  
• Twitter Search: ETEYA OR "Emerging Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year"
  
• Google News Search: ETEYA OR "Emerging Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year"
  
• Bizcommunity Search: Tourism Indaba