Final comments are being invited by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism on the draft Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) scorecard which is set to fully involve blacks in the tourism industry.
The steering committee has stated that in order for the tourism industry to grow and thrive, it must be committed to being more globally competitive while including black people in the sector. The BEE Charter and Scorecard set out two sets of targets, one to be fulfilled by 2009 and the other by 2014.
The scorecard judges tourism enterprises on ownership, strategic management, employment equity, skills development, preferential procurement, enterprise development and social development. Each category is given a weighting, with skills development contributing the largest share (20 percent) to the final score for 2009. The first five years are designed to develop capacity in the sector so that an efficient workforce will be in place to further transform the industry.
For the ten-year goals, ownership is the most heavily weighted, followed closely by preferential procurement. The scorecard especially encourages the entry of black women into the management structure of a company. The scorecard will apply to all privately owned enterprises in the tourism sector.
These include hotels, resorts and timeshares, bed and breakfasts, guesthouses, game lodges, backpackers' accommodation, restaurants, conference venues, professional catering, attractions, consulting and professional services companies, tour wholesalers, tour operators, travel agents, tourist guides, car rental companies and coach operators. It also applies to state organs and public entities.
The minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism appointed the BEE steering committee last year in July, and the draft scorecard was submitted in December. The final tourism BEE scorecard is due to be announced at the Tourism Indaba being held in May this year. Comments on the scorecard can be submitted to the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism before March 22, 2005.
