Indaba, the African travel trade show held in Durban, South Africa, presented a new section among 2017's exhibition groups called the South Africa Hidden Gems platform.
It was reserved for 90 emerging African tourism businesses and organizations selected for sponsorship by South African Tourism (SAT), the government tourism promotion entity. The platform was created as part of SAT's mandate to build tourism companies in South Africa, providing economic opportunities for South Africans at all levels of society.
Under the Hidden Gems program, the emerging companies were given space to exhibit on the trade show floor and training by the South African Tourism Services Association (SATSA), a private sector trade organization dedicated to raising the standard of professionalism in the tourism industry throughout South Africa.
One of the businesses in the Hidden Gems area was WOWZULU, a tourism company that is an outgrowth of Africa!Ignite, a nonprofit agency/NGO (nongovernmental organization) promoting rural development.
"South African Tourism, working through SATSA, selected 90 organizations that have been involved in a six-month program for training and development," said Joslyn Walker, senior manager for WOWZULU. "Not only did we attend formal SATSA training, we also were assigned a mentor from the trade, who has mentored us."
The training was priceless for WOWZULU, a newcomer to the tourism industry.
"This was very valuable for us because as specialists in rural development, tourism is new for us," said Walker. "We've been doing it for three years, but we didn't know how to talk to tour operators, so our mentor helped us to get our rate cards correct, showed us how to get our itineraries right, how to simplify things in order to communicate with tour operators."
The training was enormously helpful to WOWZULU, said Walker, but the mentorship was even better, tailored specifically to the individual needs of the company.
"To have someone at the end of the phone that you could call up and practice your pitch to, and who gave you feedback," said Walker. "I can't tell you the value in that for an emerging entrepreneur. All of the people here are emerging entrepreneurs and black-owned tourism programs."
South Africa's democratic revolution 20 years ago gave black South Africans the vote for the first time. But achieving participation in the national economy has still been difficult for a large portion of the population who have had no economic leverage with which to gain entry into the system.
[READMORE]READ MORE: Indaba 2017 Proves South Africa's Tourism Commitment.[/READMORE]
The Hidden Gems program is designed to give struggling new companies a helping hand to get their foothold in the tourism business.
"South African tourism is largely white, male-dominated in terms of ownership," said Walker.
"That's just the reality of business in South Africa. But this group, many of us are black-owned new product. We could never afford to be on a stand here, ever. We would come to Indaba and talk to people. But having a stand where you can show your product, being able to be part of that online diary where you can book meetings with tour operators is fantastic. Over the three days, we've got 80 meetings set up. You don't have access to that is you're just a visitor."
WOWZULU's parent organization, Africa!Ignite, has worked for the last 10 years in KwaZulu Natal with women and youth. It started WOWZULU, its tourism project, three years ago.
"We offer responsible, sustainable tourism activities for tourists in KZN," said Walker. "Our activities operate out of our WOWZULU marketplaces, which are our gateways to these rural communities that would otherwise never be able to interact with tourists. Tourists usually drive right past them to the main commercial tourism destinations."
WOWZULU is hoping to peel off some of the tourism trade that is concentrated in the main commercial tourism areas.
"We have put ourselves on the edges of those destinations, hanging on with our fingertips," said Walker, "because we know that's where tourists are going.
"What we are offering tourists is an opportunity to step off the normal beaten track into communities. We give them an invitation into a community where they can really get to know the people of South Africa and make real connections. What a great chance to sit in someone's home, a crafter's home, and learn from her about Zulu beadwork! Not from Google, not from an encyclopedia, but from a woman who does it every day."
It is the very definition of "authentic experiences" now sought by nearly every tourist.
"You literally are in our homes," said Walker. "We invite you in and you eat with us. We guide you around our community. We introduce you to our neighbor."
[READMORE]READ MORE: South Africa Tourism: From Struggle to Triumph.[/READMORE]
The company offers tours to seven destinations within the province of KwaZulu Natal, offering a basic selection of experiences that can be packaged to suit the individual customers.
"We started thinking we would offer existing product," said Walker, "but there wasn't any of what we were looking for so we created our own. One of my favorite activities is going for a tractor trailer ride up a mountain in the Drakenberg.
"Or you can come with us on the North Coast and we take you to a honey farm, where you meet this amazing guy who is a honey maker and an amazing storyteller. He takes you around this cooperative of five people, and you meet the people and taste the honey. He is passionate about his bees and his hives, and he sucks you in until you feel like you've made the honey yourself. He really is amazing. You spend the day and have dinner with the family down the road. It really is about these interactive experiences that are really participatory.
"If we are going to do a Zulu dance, you don't get to just sit back and watch, you have to get up and join in. The quality of your experience relies on your participating. If you're going to sit back at the back of the crowd, you ain't going to have any fun."
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