For entrepreneurs in the Booking.com Hospitality Growth Programme, that means moving beyond workshops and business plans and starting to make practical changes in how their businesses operate. Participants are now applying lessons around financial management, operations, guest experience, business systems and growth planning as the programme moves into its implementation phase.

According to Bahle Mangali of implementing partner Fetola, this is where the real work begins.

“Having a vision for your business is important, but transformation happens when entrepreneurs start turning that vision into practical decisions and changes in the business. That is the stage many of the participants are entering now.”

The programme supports emerging South African hospitality entrepreneurs to strengthen their businesses and build more sustainable enterprises.

After the initial planning phase, the focus is increasingly on execution: identifying weak points, tightening systems and making better decisions about how businesses are managed and grown. For small hospitality operators, these fundamentals can be as important as attracting more guests.

A guest house or independent accommodation business may have a great location and deliver a memorable stay, but long-term growth still depends on the basics: sound financial management, effective pricing, efficient operations and a clear understanding of the customer.

Mangali says many small hospitality entrepreneurs face an additional challenge: they are often responsible for almost everything. “An owner may be dealing with bookings in the morning, guests during the day, staff issues in the afternoon and finances at night. It is very easy to become so involved in running the business that there is little time to step back and think strategically.”

That is where structured mentoring and business support can make a difference. Participants are being encouraged to examine everything from financial discipline and operational efficiency to customer experience and future growth.

And improvement does not always require dramatic change. For one business, it may mean reviewing its pricing strategy. For another, it could be improving booking processes, introducing clearer financial controls or formalising systems that previously existed only in the owner’s head.

“Very often it is a series of practical improvements that starts changing the trajectory of a business,” says Mangali. “Better information leads to better decisions, stronger systems create capacity, and over time the entrepreneur is able to manage the business with much greater confidence.”

The impact extends beyond individual businesses. South Africa’s tourism economy is built not only around large hotel groups and major destinations, but also around thousands of smaller accommodation establishments and tourism operators across cities, towns and rural communities.

These businesses support local economies through jobs, procurement and visitor spending. Helping them become more sustainable therefore has a wider economic impact.

But growth, Mangali says, is not simply about generating more bookings. A sudden increase in demand can place pressure on a business that does not have the right systems, financial controls or operational capacity in place.

The objective is to help entrepreneurs build businesses that are strong enough to convert opportunity into sustainable growth.

For Booking.com, supporting smaller hospitality businesses is also part of strengthening the broader tourism ecosystem, giving travellers greater choice while helping tourism spend reach a wider range of destinations and communities.

The timing is significant. The final months of the year are among the most important trading periods for many South African tourism businesses. For participating entrepreneurs, peak season will provide an immediate opportunity to put the changes they are making into practice. Mangali says that is ultimately where the success of the programme will be measured.

“The goal is not simply for an entrepreneur to leave a workshop with new ideas. It is for those ideas to result in a stronger business, one that operates better, understands its finances, serves its guests well and is increasingly capable of growing sustainably.”

For the participants, the next phase is therefore less about what they plan to do, and more about what they actually change. And with peak season approaching, those changes are about to be tested in the real world.