Question NW698 to the Minister of Tourism
13 March 2023 - NW698
Sithole, Mr KP to ask the Minister of Tourism
Whether, with regard to load shedding directly impacting operators, clients and agents in the tourism industry, as the power outages prevent staff to use their PCs, Internet and office phones which means they are unable to check availability, make online bookings or respond to incoming queries, her department has made any (a) plans and (b) funding available to particularly support small, local and rural businesses in the tourism sector that are negatively impacted by continuous and increasing load shedding; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
Whether the department has made any:
(a) Plans to particularly support small, local and rural businesses in the tourism sector that are negatively impacted by continuous and increasing load shedding; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details
I have been informed that the Department introduced the Green Tourism Incentive Programme (GTIP) in 2017/18 to privately-owned tourism enterprises that meet the eligibility criteria of the programme, regardless of where they are, to offer them assistance to adopt responsible tourism practices through installing solutions for the sustainable management and usage of electricity and water resources.
The nature of support offered includes a resource efficiency assessment with recommendations on the retrofitting/ installation of energy and water efficiency solutions (e.g. equipment and systems) as well as grant funding support (addressed in b) below) towards the cost of installing recommended solutions. It is most likely that recommended solutions will also address the impact of load-shedding.
(b) Funding available to particularly support small, local and rural businesses in the tourism sector that are negatively impacted by continuous and increasing load shedding; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details
The GTIP offers support to small tourism enterprises in the form of partial grant funding support. The first stage of the application process involves a resource efficiency audit, the cost of which is fully covered under the GTIP programme, followed by a second phase where an applicant can apply for funding support (50% to 90% up to R1m) on the cost of installing relevant technologies and equipment recommended in the resource efficiency audit during the first stage.