The Department of Tourism continues to receive enquiries about the prospect of additional funding for the tourism industry – since the closure of the Tourism Relief Fund (TRF) – but there is simply no money available.

“It is regrettable that while there is still a lot of demand for the funds, the Department is not in a position to reinstate the Tourism Relief Fund owing to the unavailability of financial resources,” Director General of the Department of Tourism, Victor Tharage.

“It is for this reason that the focus of the Department is on the implementation of the Tourism Sector Recovery Plan (TSRP) to ensure sustained return to business activities as the mainstay of the recovery efforts,” he added.

Tharage said these enquiries were mostly from hundreds of enterprises whose applications were unsuccessful either due to not meeting the criteria requirements or limitation in the availability of resources on the part of the Department.

He explained that the TRF was dedicated to support micro enterprises in line with the Tourism Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Codes of Good Practice.

To this end, only enterprises with an annual turnover not exceeding R5 million (€294 000) could qualify.

Another important element of the considerations was to ensure that there was geographic spread across the country and within all nine provinces.

Tharage added that it was also important to note that, within the tourism value chain, the fund did not cater for business categories such as franchises in the food and beverage sector, restaurants and conference facilities attached to hotels, shebeens and taverns, and craft centres amongst others.

The TRF focused on small tourism enterprises whose cashflows were largely dependent on daily activities and which were halted due to the direct impact of COVID-19.

“The funds were meant to assist with expenses toward fixed costs, operational costs, supplies and other pressure costs items. Of the 7 284 valid applications submitted, only 4 000 businesses in categories such as accommodation establishments, conferencing facilities and venues, safari and car rentals in the tourism and hospitality sector received the funds,” said Tharage.