The Gauteng Tourism Sector Strategy has led to the discovery and promotion of incredible tourism talent in the province.  According to Gauteng Tourism CEO Siphiwe Ngwenya “Gauteng Tourism has run programmes to identify Small, Medium Enterprises (SMEs) which show the potential to uplift the Township share of the provincial tourism economy, resulting in the unveiling at tourism Indaba 2016 of some very exciting new tourism talent.  We are confident that they will make a very positive impression on the leisure sector, the tour operators and travel trade in general, and we are looking forward to an unprecedented period of growth and transformation in the tourism profile of our province,” explained Ngwenya.

Ngwenya elaborated, “In February this year we held a Tourism SME Indaba at Kliptown and with the help of the Southern Africa Tourism Services Association were able to par down from over 100 very promising SMEs to identify the cream of the crop from the industry perspective.  We are bringing them to Indaba with the dual purpose of exposing them to the industry as well as of honing and developing their finer marketing skills to make them indelibly imbedded in future tourism marketing offerings.”

Young entrepreneur Mpho Mache, the founder of Tshuku Tours, was delighted to be selected as one of the participating SMMEs.  “Going with Gauteng Tourism to Tourism Indaba 2016 is an amazing opportunity,” said Mache.  “As an SMME we get exposed to the heavy-weights of the tourism industry and we the opportunity to benchmark ourselves against those companies who have achieved what we are aspiring towards. 

Going to the Indaba allows you to educate yourself on trends which help you to realize if your offering is the best fit with what clients are looking for.  It’s also a great opportunity to give back to the province by helping to get more people into Gauteng and into the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, which becomes more attractive to people when once they grasp the enormous significance of this site in terms of the shared origins of all humans in Africa.

I would also love the opportunity to make people realize the immense range of activities and specialist offerings which are available in Gauteng.  Most people could spend two weeks in Gauteng and experience the lifestyles which they really aspire to if only they were aware of the incredible diversity of experiences available in our province.  In terms of land mass, Gauteng is the smallest province, but it packs the biggest punch of tourism experience in the country.”

Enthusiastic and committed entrepreneurs like Mpho Mache prove that young entrepreneurs can give as good as they get, and better.  Underestimating the aspirant tourism providers of Gauteng is to wholly misunderstand the dynamic future of tourism in Gauteng.
Gauteng Tourism will also feature the Gauteng events calendar, the Gauteng Signature Collection and the Gauteng Travel Guide APP showcase at Indaba 2016. The main programme of Tourism Indaba 2016 runs from 06-09 May, 2016.