PRETORIA, May 3 (NNN-SANEWS) — In recognition of the National Energy Month and in mitigation of the current energy constraints faced by South Africa, Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille, invites all eligible tourism enterprises to apply for the Green Tourism Incentive Programme (GTIP).
The 8th application window period starts from today to June 30.
The GTIP is an incentive programme of the Department of Tourism with the objective to encourage and support private sector tourism enterprises to adopt more responsible tourism practices and move towards the sustainable management and usage of water and energy.
The programme is administered by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) on behalf of the Department of Tourism and all applications and approvals are managed by the IDC.
“I encourage all eligible tourism businesses to apply now for the Green Tourism Incentive Programme. Accelerating climate action in tourism is of utmost importance for the resilience of the sector as well as strengthening adaptive capacity,” Minister De Lille said.
“This programme is also part of government’s efforts to reduce demand on the national electricity grid and is a stellar example of government investing in water and energy efficiency measures which not only address the impacts of climate change, but also the impacts of economic and electricity constraints we are all confronted with,” De Lille said.
The previous seven application windows of the GTIP yielded 130 approved applications thus far at a total grant value of R76.1million and was disbursed to businesses to install energy and water saving measures at their tourism establishments.
The programme offers partial grant funding to assist qualifying tourism enterprises especially small to medium enterprises to reduce the cost of investing in energy and water efficient operations, which will lower their cost of operations, and facilitate increased competitiveness and operational sustainability in the tourism sector over the long term.
Under the GTIP, eligible applicants are able to qualify for the full cost of a new energy and water efficiency audit or the review of an existing audit.
Furthermore, eligible applicants are also able to qualify for grant funding of between 50% and 90% (capped at a maximum of R1 million per applicant) on the cost of implementing approved solutions that will improve the energy and water efficiency of the tourism enterprise.
The development of GTIP was informed by escalating electricity prices, the intensifying pressure on the national energy grid and associated load-shedding conditions, as well as water scarcity and drought conditions which negatively impact the tourism sector.
The Department of Tourism invested R98.5 million to retrofit eight state owned tourist attractions with a combined 2.7 megawatt of installed renewable energy generating capacity. Combined savings for all eight sites has already reached just under R40 million by the end of the 2022/23 financial year. — NNN–SANEWS
