Mbabane: Only tourism related projects will qualify for this year’s Business Plan Competition under the umbrella of the Believe Begin Become (BBB) programme.

 

The competition, that has been running for the past two years, has now been streamlined to cater for tourism specific business plans.

 

Winners of the competition are Phila Msibi in 2006 and the current one, Mduduzi Dludlu.

 

BPC Manager Julie Thring said it was in July 2006 when they conducted a strategic study of the Swaziland tourism industry with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

 

“Through the study, TechnoServe found that there is a clear opportunity to increase the number and spend of tourists coming to Swaziland as well as expand the geographical spread of tourism products within the country,” she said.

 

Thring explained that following the study, TechnoServe has committed to help grow the country’s tourism industry, primarily by helping existing and new operators grow and diversify their products and services.

 

“With the continued support of USAID, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Swaziland Tourism Authority (STA), we will be launching a tourism specific business plan on February 20, 2008 under the umbrella of the BBB programme,” said Thring.

 

She noted that this was a significant departure from the national business plan competitions that TechnoServe implemented in 2006 and 2007.

 

“The 2008 BBB competition is a fresh, new initiative that supports and further develops the local tourism industry. BBB aims to encourage entrepreneurial men and women in the tourism sector to grow their businesses, which will then create jobs and income opportunities for Swazi people,” she explained.

 

Thring added that it would focus on existing Swazi operators and provide the practical training through the IFC’s Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Market Access to Regional Tourism (SMART) programme to help them link into international markets.

 

She further mentioned that the tourism competition was open to existing tourism operators in four categories, being accommodation, attractions, activities and tour operators.

 

“A fifth category, innovation, is open to any aspiring entrepreneur with a good tourism idea who meets the minimum criteria and each winner will receive E75 000 as seed capital,” she said.

 

Applications will be available from February 20, 2008 and the application period will be open until April 4, 2008. From the pool of applicants, a core group of Top 30 will be selected, who will participate in the Tourism Indaba in May, training and final awards to be held in September during the World’s Tourism Day.

 

The top 10 finalists will each receive aftercare vouchers amounting to E20 000.