Business & Finance
News, views, and reviews relating to business and financial issues with particular relevance to the global travel trade.
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How to Become a Tour Guide In South Africa
Tourist guides in South Africa are some of the most important people in the travel trade. They interact on a…
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Overseas Money Transfer Transaction Tips
The technological advancements that make modern life simple and easy are also the technological advancements that come with quite in-depth…
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Value Added Tax in the Tourism Industry
Value Added Tax (VAT) charged to clients in the Tourism Industry can be a minefield, especially when dealing with foreign…
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13 Tips to Surviving as a Small Tourism Business
Main image: Paul Miedema and Nelson Sebezela of Calabash tours. Operating a small tourism business in South Africa can be…
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An unofficial guide to the German Travel Contracts Act
While reading this article concerning the German Travel Contracts Act and the relevant Consumer Protection issues, kindly note that I…
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10 Steps To Starting Your Own Tourist Transport Business
The following 10 steps are aimed at entrepreneurs who are thinking of entering the tourism industry in South Africa and…
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Beginners Guide to Starting a Tourism Business
Your Beginners Guide to Starting a Tourism Business Writing for WikiHow, Claire Fess provides eight steps on how to start…
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How Mining Benefits Africa’s Economy
The term ‘mining’ often drums up images of dusty, dark tunnels, hefty pieces of machinery like drills and crushers and…
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Effective Sales Secrets For Small Businesses
Selling is the lifeblood of any business but the impact of low sales volumes on Small to Micro Enterprises (SMEs)…
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Domestic Tourism: Trends & Opportunities
South Africa’s domestic tourism industry has the potential to contribute significantly more to the economy if it manages to expand…
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Africa Hotel Valuation Index 2017
HVS, the global hospitality consulting firm and host of the THINC Africa conference, launched their 2017 African Hotel Valuation Index…
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Economic Benefits of Hosting Events in Africa
An Independent report has revealed a seven-figure economic boost to destinations that have hosted the Africa Hotel Investment Forum over…
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Business Tourism in Africa Continues to Expand
Perceptions of Africa as a business destination have changed vastly in recent times. The ICCA 2016 rankings reveal that Africa…
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Economic Development in Africa
Following the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) held in Geneva, Switzerland in January 2017, an in-depth report…
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The Biggest Challenge Facing DMO’s Today
Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) have a unique historical opportunity to help lead the shift from an old and obsolete way…
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The Role of Tour Operators in Safari Bookings
Research suggests that travellers are changing their safari booking habits by making reservations directly on booking aggregators or directly via…
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WiFi at Safari Lodges: A Key Influencer?
A Big Five safari is all about the sightings and experiences. Sharing the thrill of these experiences with friends and…
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Good Service Seeds Future Tourism Growth
These days, travellers do not vote only with their feet when dissatisfied with the quality of service they receive. They…
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The Right Mindset For Running Your Own Business
Running a business is a big challenge. Even the most modest enterprise takes hard work and dedication to thrive. If…
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Visas in Africa for African Travellers
Africa is increasingly moving towards achieving part of its African Union Agenda 2063, which envisions the abolishment of visa requirements…
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SATSA MIR August 2016
The data from Stats SA reflects the continued recovery in international arrivals. The stabilisation of the Rand in recent weeks…
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Tourism Business Index Q2 2016
Persisting tough trading conditions affecting tourism in Q2 2016. The Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) reports that the…
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TOMSA Set To Boost Domestic Tourism
Launching on Sunday 26 June 2016, Finders Keepers is a new Tourism Marketing South Africa (TOMSA) promotional campaign that aims…
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10 Tips on Selecting Tour Operator Software
For Tour Operators, it always comes down to cost; but investing in tools that will improve productivity, manage workflow, reduce…
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10 Tips on Tour Quoting
It’s no longer acceptable for tour package quotations to take hours or days to compile. It’s time for tour operators…
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SA Tourism Review Report
A panel of experts have reviewed how South African Tourism is responding to the dynamics of the national and international…
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Skills Development Levy Refund
Did you know that South African registered businesses can get a portion of their Skills Development Levy (SDL) back each…
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Interview with Private Safaris
Tourism Tattler met with Kuoni subsidiary Private Safaris CEO Frank Glettenberg for an interview during the 2015 Indaba Trade Show…
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Health and Wealth for Tourism
SATIB is set to provide businesses and employees in the tourism and hospitality industry with a holistic, financial services offering…
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Tourism Performance Steady in Q1 2015
Amid calls for calm in various parts of the country, which have seen an upsurge of violence against foreign nationals,…
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How to Streamline your Tour Operator Business
Surprisingly, there are still tour operators who rely on manual (spreadsheet and other) solutions to run their businesses, which invariably…
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SA’s Visa Immigration Debacle Rages on
UPDATE: JOHANNESBURG, 11 November 2019 – International minors travelling to South Africa do not require Unabridged Birth Certificates or consent…
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Governments Recognise Benefits of Visa Facilitation
Visa facilitation has experienced strong progress in recent years, particularly through the implementation of visa on arrival policies according to…
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Are Concierges Right For Tour Operators?
In this article, guest blogger Julia Barrero of Xola looks at the ecosystem of tourist-driven sales for tour operators with…
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SA Tourism Stats – April
Statistics South Africa have finally released tourism arrivals stats for 2014, which clearly show the impact of Ebola and the…
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How to Keep Tour Itineraries Current
For most tour operators and travel agents, checking inventory rates and booking availability for their clients’ itineraries is a time…
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SA Tourism Stats – March
The latest South African Hotel Stats for the full 2014 year, shows that hotel occupancies stabilised and room rates continued…
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The importance of Credibility in Tourism
Travellers want to deal with tourism service providers that they can trust to provide not only value and an experience…
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SA’s clean audit not good enough
The financial management of South Africa’s government departments and local municipal departments, while showing slight improvement, is still simply not…
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2022 Commonwealth Games for Durban South Africa?
Hosting the Commonwealth or Olympic Games would not only allow South Africa to access a greater share of the global…
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Cover Story – November 2014
This edition of Tourism Tattler is dedicated to the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa (TGCSA). The TGCSA was established…
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TGCSA Launches Basket of Benefits
Having your hospitality establishment graded now means more than a few stars – it also provides access to a range…
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Planning your year-end function
As the end of the year is around the corner and planning a year-end function forms part of wrapping up…
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SA’s Tourism Growth Spurs Property Investment
Over the past 20 years, the tourism sector’s contribution to South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) has increased significantly –…
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Tourism Growth Key for SA and Car Rentals
South African tourism, exceeding over 10 million arrivals last year and its growing GDP contribution which now exceeds 9%, has…
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Business Insurance for SMME’s
Entrepreneurs need insurance cover at affordable premiums, but they also need access to other factors that contribute to business success,…
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How To Find Business Partners in Namibia
Your client wants a seven-night authentic bush camp safari in Namibia for a party of four, and to experience the…
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Tourism Business Performance Down
South Africa’s tourism business performance dipped in the second quarter of this year, according to the latest TBCSA FNB Tourism…
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Access to Finance
A critical factor in SMME development Entrepreneurs need access to finance, but they also need access to other factors that…
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What is Tax Season?
One often hears the term ‘tax season’ bandied about, which sends shivers down the spines of many. But are there…
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SA Tourism Numbers Reach Record High
South Africa welcomed a total of 9,616,964 tourists in 2013, up from the 9,188,368 tourists that visited South Africa in…
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Interest in SA shoots up by 250%
South African destinations are attracting more interest, according to a recent TripAdvisor traffic study, which found views of South African…
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9 Essential Skills for Entrepreneurs
Operating a successful tourism business requires certain skills. Test your own proficiency against these nine skill sets. By Thys Buitendag…
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13 Things Entrepreneurs Don’t Do
I spend many hours of my time reading. Some of it is about real live historical events (I don’t enjoy…
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Inbound Demand Lifts SA Tourism
Strong Overseas Leisure Demand Lifts SA’s Tourism Performance The first quarter results of the TBCSA FNB Tourism Business Index (TBI)…
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Arrivals & Hotel STR Statistics
The current SATSA Market Intelligence Report can be viewed in the MAY 2014 magazine edition (Click on the cover image…
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Statutory Business Requirements
Statutory Registrations are a very important part of running a business legally in South Africa and must be adhered to.…
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Financial Reporting Requirements
For businesses in South Africa. In South Africa, business entities can operate in various forms; the first form is what…
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Tourism Support Center Launched
The business of tourism has become a fiercely competitive global cyber-market. To many, this cyber-market is as confusing to the…
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Global Tourist Arrivals up by 52 million in 2013
Despite a global economy in ‘low gear’ international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) grew by 5% for 2013. Destinations around the…
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The Taxing Problem of Invoice Compliance
For a South African registered Value Added Tax (VAT) vendor to be able to claim back the input VAT (on…
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How to Boost Hotel Room Sales across Africa
Online travel booking agencies are causing waves in Africa as they help hotels and guesthouses to ride the growing tide…
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BRICS Tourism Analysis
South Africa’s tourist arrivals from BRIC countries grew by 20.8 percent since 2010. From Jan 2010 to Nov 2012, 748…
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Port Elizabeth Speed Marketing Session Boosts Local Tourism
Tourism product owners, from East London to the Tsitsikamma and as far inland as Cradock, gathered in Port Elizabeth in…
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Gambling revenues perform well in Africa
According to the latest PwC report, gambling held up very well in the last year despite a stagnated economy. Gross gambling…
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South Africa – The gains made in 20 years
Remarkable strides have been made since South Africa embraced democracy. By John Young. When Nelson Mandela took the oath of…
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South Africa’s Traffic Officers Damaging Tourism
Irregular, inconsistent and often blatently corrupt policing by South Africa’s traffic officials is damaging the country’s tourism industry and adversely…
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Africa’s hospitality sector poised for recovery and growth
According to latest PwC report, Africa’s hospitality sector is poised for further strong growth in the next five years, despite…
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GEPF invests to boost job-creation and economic growth
The Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF)has announced the allocation of R13-billion for investment in various sectors of the economy, including…
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Germany leads European travel
Research reveals that in Germany, travel agents have a major influence on travel decisions and bookings and that German travellers…
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The two faces of SA’s economy
The Global Competitiveness Report 2012/2013 tells the story. In the public sector our competitiveness has declined significantly. Individuals and institutions…
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The Big Business Bribery Bill
For the first time since the end of Apartheid, businesses will have to ask the government’s permission to operate. The…
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FILTHY RICH and loving it
New research into South Africa’s super-rich reveals they aren’t just wealthy, they are far wealthier than previously assumed. According to…
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So you want to be a tour operator?
Then this Tour Operator Training course is a must for you! The Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (SATSA) offers comprehensive…
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SATSA secures Mobi Sites for members
As from this month, ALL SATSA members have access to a FREE mobile website (Mobi Site) solution, for both smartphone…
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Travel Industry Supports TEP’s Enterprise Development Portfolio
Springbok Atlas Luxury Charter has become the latest company to partner the Tourism Enterprise Partnership (TEP) in its objective to…
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Five top tips to starting a Successful Business
Richard Branson has started a blog on LinkedIn – the world’s largest professional network with over 175 million members since…
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Western Cape Birding Route upgrade project seeks R1.4m
This investment sought by the West Coast District Municipality will be used to upgrade existing infrastructure and promote the West…
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5 Habits of the Successful Small Business Owner
Outstanding customer service doesn’t have to come from deep pockets and a 24/7 contact centre. In fact, according to the…
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Reputation Management – The role of Stakeholders
The term “stakeholder” may be an overused epitaph used in corporate brochures, but what does it really mean writes, Deon…
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Financial Wellness in the Workplace
Economic times are tough for both Employers and Employees alike. 2012 was a year where we witnessed increased and more…
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At the heart of strike action: Money and Financial Education
Let me first start off by saying that this article does not condone nor support strikes in any way. This…
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Is your superstar employee really helping your business?
Is your superstar employee really helping your business? – As your business gets more complex, those early superstar employees can…
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10 Simple Steps To Debt Reduction
You might have a little debt or a lot of debt. Makes no difference. This simple 10-step debt reduction plan…
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Beyond the Limits of Cash or Credit
Recently, I had the opportunity of communicating with Bob Meyer, founder, publisher and editor of BarterNews. Meyer is America’s expert…
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African Resources and Colliding Geopolitics
The terms “Great Game” or “Tournament of Shadows” in Russia were terms for the strategic rivalry and conflict between the…
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