The Tourism Enterprise Partnership (TEP) is pleased to announce that it has been appointed by Wild Coast Sun Casino & Resort as its preferred Enterprise & Supplier Development (ESD) partner. The popular casino, holiday and leisure destination situated near Port Edward in the Eastern Cape near the provincial border with KwaZulu-Natal was looking to partner with a credible ESD facilitator to provide enterprise and supplier development support to the SMMEs in its value chain as stipulated by the amended BBBEE codes.
Commenting on the appointment of TEP, Thabisa Nkanzela, the resort’s manager for finance who is also responsible for ESD says: “Our resort takes BBBEE very seriously, so now that it is time for us to renew our ED certificate, we plan to do it in a manner that is consistent with the amended codes which came into effect on 1 May 2015. Choosing TEP to do this important work for us was easy as we have been aware of their Enterprise & Supplier Development Solutions (ESDS) through their involvement, in a similar capacity, with the Maslow Hotel, our sister hotel in Johannesburg”.
The first beneficiary of the resort’s ESD programme, Bridge Motors, a 100% black-owned small business which provides carpark management services, has already been identified and, following a site visit and a development needs assessment (DNA), TEP has developed a business development support package that has been approved for implementation by management.
According to Dr Salifou Siddo, the TEP Chief Executive, the appointment is confirmation that TEP’s ESDS is gaining traction as a credible option for large corporate entities that are looking for a cost-effective solution to their ESD requirements.
Says Dr Siddo: “The ESD facilitation field is becoming increasingly competitive and corporate ESD managers are now more selective in terms of who they trust with their ESD investments. Our ESDS programme is a tested and proven turnkey solution that is rooted in our 15 years of experience in enterprise support in the tourism sector. We provide a comprehensive ESD support package that includes skills development, mentoring, business linkages as well as access to finance through our own Ikwezi Tourism Facility. We are delighted that we will be working with such a well-known operator to support Bridge Motor”.
TEP’s ESDS programme incorporates a reporting mechanism that tracks business growth, in terms of jobs and increased turnover generated by supported SMMEs. This makes it easier for large corporates to monitor and evaluate the impact of their ESD investments.
About TEP: The Tourism Enterprise Partnership (TEP) is a not for profit company that has successfully developed entrepreneurs for over a decade. TEP facilitates the growth, development and sustainability of small tourism businesses through a number of focused intervention pillars, including: Access to Information – Business Support - Access to Finance - Skills Development – Access to Markets. In addition to its database of more than 4000 tourism SMMEs, TEP has also developed a database of black-owned Exempted Micro Enterprises (EMEs) and Qualifying Small Enterprises (QSEs) that provide goods and services to the tourism industry.
