Venture capital financing and tourism industry in South Africa

Abstract

This paper tries to identify the role of Venture Capital (VC) in promoting Tourism and Hospitality sector in South Africa because both Tourism and VC has the inherent characteristics of acting as a catalyst of transforming the economy. Thus by capitalizing on these two catalysts, a socially responsible growth can be seen in tourism and hospitality industry in a region in general and South Africa in particular in the near future. Since it is purely based on secondary data and tries to develop a conceptual model for transforming the economy; a thorough study needs to be carried out for understanding the perceptions of the two categories of entrepreneurs, viz., venture capitalists (VC's) and tourism business community, for developing a strategy which combines these two entrepreneurs in the quest for transforming the economy to a higher level. The contribution of the dynamics of VC financing and tourism as the duel catalysts of transforming the economy for sustainable development has not been sufficiently researched in South Africa and, therefore, the study fills the gap by adding valuable knowledge, new perspectives, and presents possibilities for consideration. The paper offers valuable inputs for VC's, tourism business community, the NGO's, the governments, and other stakeholder groups.