SEVEN primary and high school pupils from KwaZulu Natal showing initiative and a promising flair for business in tourism - ranging from making unusual African curios and designing brochures to offering cultural tours to international visitors - were awarded cash prizes totalling R8 500 in the Richard's Bay Minerals (RBM) High Road Schools Entrepreneurship Competition last week.
The organisers of the competition, an annual event which has been running for four years now, chose tourism as this year's theme because of its "enormous growth potential" and said the children put even seasoned professionals to shame with their innovative ventures.
"Our aim was to encourage teachers across the province to introduce entrepreneurship programmes in their schools and to teach scholars how to successfully start their own businesses," said Peter Morrison of RBM's Small Business Advice Centre, which organised the programme in conjunction with the provincial daily newspaper, The Natal Mercury.
He explained that entrants had to submit a business plan for a realistic tourism venture, with a budget of less than R1 000. Judging was conducted by representatives from Tourism KwaZulu Natal (TKZN), The Natal Mercury and RBM's Small Business Advice Centre.
One of the five first prize awards of R1 000 went to two brothers, Daniel (13) and Matthew Wagner from Durban who not only make and sell handpainted T-shirts, and kitchen products called Mud Designs - with various African story themes - in a number of curio shops and art museums, but established their own inbound tour operation, Wagtrails. Their first client, a traveller from the UK and a family friend, was treated to a to a well-planned tour of KZN.
Daniel explains: "We arranged accommodation at Injusiti in the Drakensberg, arranged a stay at Hluhluwe and Sodwana and hired a driver to take him around to these areas. We also accompanied him to Injusiti and acted as a guide to the area."
The client was impressed enough to request the two to set up another tour for him when he returns to South Africa next year. "Next time the itinerary will include trips to Cape Town and the Kruger National Park (KNP)."
Other creative prize-winning entries included fridge magnets with vibrant ethnic designs, ballpoint pens covered in fluffy fake fur animal prints, African design candles, African design wrapping paper, the production of a brochure to highlight the tourism potential of the historic town of Verulam and a range of home-made products such as herb vinegar, pineapple jam, lemon juice, pickled onions and chilli, each with a uniquely designed label.
(Adéle Mackenzie)
