Officials from EDTEA (Economic Development, Tourism & Environmental Affairs Department) and the Department of Labour held a tourism business compliant workshop last week Wednesday at Cecil Emmet.
People who own guests houses, restaurants, lodges and other tourism-related businesses attended the workshop. The purpose was to give tourism businesses ideas, and to ensure that they remain compliant with all the rules and protocols.
Deputy Director of Tourism Services & Capacity Building Ncumisa Ndelu mentioned that the workshop was implemented to tell business people to comply with Covid-19 protocols because the pandemic is still here. “Businesses in the tourism sector must ensure that they follow the rules and regulations of the pandemic. The workshop was held to also help the people register their businesses. It is important for them to be registered because it helps a lot. There are benefits in registering businesses and some qualify for funds when they are in need.’’
Ncumisa mentioned that they work closely with the Department of Labour in these workshops. Inspections were conducted on some of the establishments in Vryheid. “The Department of Labour normally does the inspections, where they check for a variety of things that the business should have and also check if the business complies with the standard procedures. We are not there to look for faults, but to encourage and correct them to do better as businesses so they can rectify their mistakes. We ensure that the guests and the people working for that particular business are safe.’’ The Department of Labour also helps the employer and employees with the basic conditions of employment in terms of the hours the employees should work, the registration of UIF and the compensation funds.
The businesses that did not comply with the standard procedures were assisted.
A KZN Educators Development Programme Tourism Workshop took place on Saturday at Rita’s Guest House, where teachers who teach Tourism as a subject at schools were invited to attend. Ncumisa mentioned that the purpose of the workshop was to empower these teachers. “This is a nice workshop because it is actually the teachers who identify what they need and want to know about tourism, and we organise to help them.’’ Tourism is said not to be consistent; it moves with the times, so teachers must ensure that learners are ready for university and can face the tourism sector once they are done with studying.
ALSO READ:‘Local municipality must join hands with Tourism Association to benefit all’
Make sure you follow us on our social media platforms for regular updates
