The Hospitality Industry will from 1 September to 30 November 2018 once again be granted an opportunity to benefit from the third window application period of Green Tourism Incentive Programme (GTIP), the Department of Tourism announced.
The opening of the window application period is for the addition of support for water efficiency measures in the industry, the department said on Friday.
Last year, the department launched a programme in an effort to encourage small and micro tourism enterprises to move towards cleaner and more energy-efficient operations.
The initiative is in collaboration with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and with the National Cleaner Production Centre of South Africa (NCPC-SA) as the technical support.
The department said while the uptake in the programme during the first two application windows was positive, the department recognised the need to expand the programme focus to also include water efficiency to mitigate the impact of persistent drought conditions in some parts of the country on the tourism sector.
“The inclusion of water efficiency solutions in the Green Tourism Incentive Programme contributes to the department’s objective of encouraging the South African tourism sector to adopt operational practices for the sustainable management and usage of water and electricity resources and adhering to responsible tourism principles,” said the Director General of the Department of Tourism, Victor Tharage.
The IDC manages the GTIP on behalf of the department with energy and water efficiency audits being conducted by the NCPC-SA to determine the best possible solutions to be implemented.
For more information, application forms and guidelines on the GTIP, visit the IDC website at www.idc.co.za. Enquiries can be directed to gtip@idc.co.za - SAnews.gov.za
