Seeza Tourism Growth Network – a national collaborative network of tourism small and medium enterprises (SMEs) – has launched its Tourism SME Digital Transformation Programme in conjunction with local and global partners
Travel News’ sister publication, Tourism Update chatted to Seeza Director, Septi Bukula, to find out more.
Q: Tell us about Seeza Tourism Growth Network, its goals and objectives.
A: It was established in 2017 with the aim of facilitating domestic and international market access for tourism SMEs, mainly by linking them to inbound business events and taking a collective approach to promotions abroad. The founding philosophy of the network is rooted in the theory and practice of inter-firm collaboration, which is practised in many parts of the world as an approach to SME development.
Q: Who are your members?
A: Because Seeza is not an association but a network, we refer to the SMEs we work with as partners, not members. There is no membership fee payable to be part of Seeza, but our SME partners contribute financially to the network based on the actual business we facilitate for them. Our partners are mostly, though not exclusively, tour operators across the country. There are currently about 100 partners who form part of the Seeza network.
Q: Why is it important for tourism and hospitality SMEs to embrace technology to help their businesses grow?
A: In recent years, and especially following the advent of COVID-19, numerous studies by several leading international institutions – including the World Economic Forum, OECD, Vodafone Business and Visa – have shown that unless SMEs in general embrace digitalisation, they will increasingly be marginalised in future.
The Vodafone study unequivocally states: “SMEs that lack agility and willingness to invest into digitalisation are likely to fade away.”
Q: Is it true that, despite the importance of embracing digitalisation, very few SMEs actually do so? And why is that?
A: We certainly believe so. The reasons are many and varied. In South Africa, we believe that one of the key reasons is that government tourism SME support programmes have not focused on encouraging and enabling SMEs to make the transition to digital.
For instance, in Seeza’s 2020 SME Tour Operator Insights Survey, 39,73% of SMEs identified branding (which included website development and optimisation), and 36,99% identified technology upgrades as among the key support services they needed.
Yet, of the 46,58% respondents that had participated in past support programmes, only 19% and 2,38%, respectively, reported that the support they had received included website development and optimisation and technology upgrades. So in these two areas there’s a clear mismatch between support required and support provided.
Q: How can this be addressed and by whom?
We believe future government support programmes must make digital transformation a key component. Tourism KwaZulu-Natal (TKZN) is leading the way by implementing the Tourism SME Digital Transformation Programme in partnership with Seeza. That’s a positive start.
Q: How is Seeza Tourism Growth Network addressing the challenge through its Digital Transformation Programme?
A: We believe that there is no one entity that can comprehensively drive the digital transformation of SMEs, especially in tourism where, of necessity, digital transformation has so many facets. So, our Tourism SME Digital Transformation Programme delivery model is unique in that we have various partners, based both locally and internationally, that bring unique specialisations that address a specific aspect of the SME’s digital transformation journey. We call it a multi-partner delivery approach.
Q: Who are those partners?
A: For the current TKZN programme we are collaborating with four partners, three of whom are based in South Africa, and one abroad. Since the launch of the TKZN programme, we have added four more partners to our network, two in South Africa and two abroad.
Q: What has the feedback been in terms of the benefits of this programme?
A: Feedback we are receiving from SMEs participating in the programme is that it has fundamentally shifted their thinking about the importance of going digital as a way of enhancing their domestic and international competitiveness and market visibility.
Also, our digital readiness diagnostic assessment helps them see where their current strengths and weaknesses lie. Based on the result of this assessment, the programme organises specific sessions for SMEs, such as webinars, to address specific identified gaps.
Q: Who can, and should, participate in this programme?
A: We believe any SME that desires to enhance its competitiveness and market visibility both now and in future should embark on the digital transformation journey. Because there is a cost associated with the programme, only those SMEs that are currently sponsored by Tourism KwaZulu-Natal are participating. We hope SMEs outside KZN can similarly be assisted in future. There have been expressions of interest from SMEs in other provinces but we unfortunately cannot assist them at this stage without them being sponsored.
