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Johannesburg - The investment by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) in the first black empowered boutique hotel in the Vaal region, the Vaalnest Hotel, will go some way
towards addressing black ownership within the SA tourism market
and confirms a mandate for supporting small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) to facilitate economic growth.
Situated in Vaal Marina with breath-taking views across the Gauteng tourism jewel Vaal Dam, the Vaalnest Hotel is a wholly black-owned four-star boutique establishment that is targeted at the local leisure and business conferencing markets.
As the inaugural four-star hotel in the area, Vaalnest offers a
competitive advantage over the small guesthouses, bed-and-breakfast and self-catering accommodation facilities, coffee shops and take-away restaurants on the dam.
The hotel aims to balance the seasonal and weekly fluctuations in business tourism with leisure tourism over the weekends and holidays, particularly as SA prepares to host the 2010 Fifa World Cup Soccer tournament.
SMMEs
Officially opening the hotel today, IDC Tourism Strategic Business Unit (SBU) head Mbuyazwe Magagula said the organisation's mandate extended beyond the multi-million-rand corporate deals to recognise the value SMMEs contribute to economic development.
The IDC's financial backing brought to fruition the Vaalnest dream, while facilitating the creation of 23 permanent employment opportunities including 30 during the year-long construction. Further jobs will be created when the facility expands by 2009.
Magagula said the consistent increase in international tourists to SA as well as the groundswell among locals to travel domestically meant the industry was gaining momentum.
SA Tourism figures reflect international visitors rose 13.4% to 8.4m during 2006 and had already achieved a 10% growth in
arrivals for the first five months of last year. In the past year the IDC invested R564m into projects that demonstrated significant potential development impact and contributed towards transforming the sector.
The key areas included development among entrepreneurs, SMMEs, under- targeted townships and rural areas as well as the rest of Africa with the current portfolio handling 107 clients that created 1110 employment opportunities in the past year.
- I-Net Bridge