Supporting small firm development in tourism South Africa's Tourism Enterprise Programme

The international experience points to few countries having designated support programmes that are specific to small tourism firms. In 2000 South Africa's tourism Enterprise Programme (TEP) was launched, functioning as a dedicated support initiative to assist the development and upgrading of small tourism firms within the national tourism economy. This article analyses TEP's activities within the changed environment of post-apartheid tourism development, and highlights the evolution of its innovative operations for supporting tourism entrepreneurship and the upgrading of small, medium-sized and micro-enterprises (SMATEs) in South Africa's tourism economy. It is argued that TEP's activities might provide an example of 'good practice' for other developing countries.