City Lodge Hotel (CLH) is proud to announce the launch of its fourth year of its Transformative Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) program, in collaboration with Sigma International and SATSA Tourism Business Incubator.
This milestone reflects not only the continuation of the program, but also the celebrating the intentional impact on life, businesses and communities. To date, the programme has supported 47 tourism-centric SMMEs across South Africa, providing practical and coordinated business development support and promoting meaningful access to the hospitality sector's procurement value chain.
“When we look back on this journey, we don't just ticking our compliance box. We acknowledge our journey of change. Our commitment to inclusive growth is rooted in the belief that actions, consequences and entrepreneurship are the heartbeat of a sustainable economy. Executives at City Lodge Hotel.
At the heart of the program's success is a blend incubator approach that combines business development support with operational realization based on the unique needs of each SMME. Offered through Sigma International's 17 professional staff and a network of over 30 partners (national and globally), this support ecosystem has proven to be a victory formula.
The program is a quality support for ISO 9001:2015, integrating both human-centered and AI-driven tools to help entrepreneurs build resilient, future-ready businesses. From training webinars and administrative accounts to branding, equipment grants, marketing development, business links and support for digital transformation, interventions are just as practical as powerful.
What really distinguishes the CLH approach is its integration with hotel operations. General managers of the group's 55 hotels in South Africa (Windhoek, Namibia, each has one facility, with Botswana, Mapto Mozambique and Mapto Mozambique) nominating beneficiaries, creating business support experiences that are both active roles in mentorship and development, and are both embedded empowering.
“We advocate for a new kind of supplier development that is deeply integrated, practical, and directed towards long-term sustainability. It is very rewarding to see supplier growth and diversification. We help build sustainable businesses as well as contracts today. Lindiwe. As a B-BBEE Level 1 contributor, City Lodge Hotels Management is included in revenue and employment, making the growth of the ESD businesses we collaborate with very important.
The program continues to encourage digitalization, AI use, diversification, self-power and prepares entrepreneurs for the future economy. As procurement values continue to grow, CLH and its partners celebrate the economic benefits and the impact of human stories and communities arising from building sustainable businesses that pay it forward in a deliberate way.
This fourth year represents more than continuance. This is a point of reflection and a call for action for others in the sector. With “Journaling the Journey,” CLH will invite more broader industrial and ecosystem stakeholders to work together to create an inclusive and powerful tourism economy, one entrepreneur at a time.
