Travel BEE trust established to develop black females

SINCE the founding of the

first BEE travel and tourism

trust during 2017, a few small

agencies have got involved,

with two large industry players

on the brink of signing up.

Founder of The Travel and

Events Empowerment Trust,

Michael Gladwin, says

he believes it is the first

of its kind in the industry.

It is deemed to be 100%

black female owned, and

Michael says it was set up

to specifically support and

develop black females in the

travel and events industry.

He says traction for the fund

was initially slow, as BBBEE

is a strategic focus area and

companies plan ahead before

implementing new initiatives

ahead of the next financial

year.

“Suppliers can invest a

percentage of their nett profit

after tax into the trust to

maximise their BBBEE points

on the enterprise development

and supplier development

scorecards. Companies that

invest a percentage of their

annual salary bill can gain

additional points through the

skills development scorecard,”

says Michael.

Trust members source black

females in the industry, identify

their development needs and

assist them with educational,

mentorship, marketing, legal or

financial requirements.

Michael has been an agency

owner for 10 years now and

says frustration about having

to use the same small pool of

big suppliers when arranging

holiday packages was a key

reason for founding the trust.

He says there are so many

opportunities for the little

guys to get business in the

industry and envisages that a

whole new supply chain in the

South African travel industry

could be built once existing

development gaps have been

filled.

The trust also offers BBBEE

share ownership opportunities

to traditionally white-owned

companies. An agency can

donate shares of between

10% and 51%, upping its

BBBEE rating to level two or

three. The trust is named a

non-executive shareholder,

which has no influence over

the management of the travel

company, but benefits from

the arrangement in terms

of receipt of shareholder

dividends. These are then

reinvested into further

black female travel industry

development.