R10 million tourism relief fund starts payouts

The Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency was appointed by the Department of Economic Development and Tourism to handle the disbursement of the relief fund, and it had received 430 applications.

This fund comes as an additional effort to assist businesses that suffered due to the Covid-19 lockdown following the National Tourism Relief Fund, from which not all benefited. Those who benefited from the national fund did not qualify for the provincial relief.

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According to the MEC for finance, economic development and tourism, Vusi Mkhatshwa, the fund forms part of the implementation of the Mpumalanga Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan introduced by the premier during this year’s State of the Province Address.

This is a provincial implementation of the National Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan announced by the president, Cyril Ramaphosa.

According to Mkhatshwa, of the 430 applications, 28 were not approved due to the fact that they had benefited nationally.

“So far, at least 238 tourism businesses from our province have already benefited from the national tourism relief fund to the tune of R11,9 million,” he said.

Mkhatshwa mentioned that the processing of applications in four categories has been finalised, namely, tourist guides (133 applications); hospitality (25 applications); professional hunter (one application) and tourism grader assessor (one application).

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Funds received per applicant vary between different business categories:
• Accommodation establishments – R25 000 to R50 000
• Hospitality and related services – R15 000 to R35 000
• Travel and related services – R15 000 to R35 000
• Individual tourism tourist guides, professional hunters and tourism grading assessors – maximum of R10 000
• Informal/subsistence tourism-related businesses – a maximum of R7 000.

A list of 91 applicants has been released that has already received its payments. Distribution of the fund is expected to be completed by mid-May.

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QUICK FACTS:
• According to the 2019 Tourism Report released by South African Tourism, Mpumalanga’s tourism performance was on a very positive trajectory prior to the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic. The province recorded the third most foreign arrivals in 2019, with a share of 14,1 per cent of South Africa’s foreign visitors.
• During the same period, the total foreign direct spend in Mpumalanga was approximately R7,4 billion, which represented 9,1 per cent of the total foreign direct spend in South Africa.
• On the domestic tourism front, Mpumalanga was the fifth most frequented destination province, with a 9,5 per cent share of day trips undertaken by South Africans in 2019.
•T he expenditure on day trips in Mpumalanga was approximately R9,2 billion or 11,2 per cent of total expenditure on day trips in South Africa. This was the fourth highest among the nine provinces.