Travel and tourism bring about exposure, employment opportunities, growth, wealth, and adventure. Many businesses, such as those in the hospitality sector, rely heavily on the influx of tourists to their countries.
Travel and tourism ultimately create a link in the world by sharing cultures, stories of people, and an overall sense of unity within humanity.
Some subjects that will be advantageous to a career in Travel and Tourism are Mathematical Technology, Mathematics, Hospitality, and Civil Technology.
Examples of careers in the travel and tourism industry include joining an air cabin crew, hotel management, becoming a tourism officer, travel agency manager, event manager, and sales executive, just to name a few.
If you're looking to pursue Tourism at a university or college, here are some bursaries for you to consider:
Sun City Resort Bursary
Sun City Resort is inviting students to apply for their external bursary programme.
Bursaries will be awarded to students residing within the North West province, for studies within these fields:
- Tourism
- Hospitality Management
- Biodiversity and Nature Conservation
- Environmental Health or Science Management
- Finance
- Fire Technology
- Information Technology
- Safety Management
- Supply Chain Management
Eligibility requirements for this bursary include:
- You must be a South African citizen
- You must reside within the North West province
- You must be between 18 and 30 years old
- You must have completed Matric
- You must be studying or registered to study full time, towards an undergraduate qualification in one of the fields listed above, in 2023
- You must be studying or registered to study at a recognised Higher Education Institute within the North West province
- You must have no criminal records
- Students with disabilities are welcome to apply
Access Trust Bursary
The Access Trust is a non-profit organisation, whose goals it is to select suitable applicants and fund their studies in job fields that are scarce within the country.
Access Trust funds students who will take up studies within a Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college within the Western Cape.
Bursaries will be awarded within the following fields of study:
- Travel and Tourism
- Hospitality
- Farming Management
- Construction/ Building & Civil Engineering
- Electrical Engineering
- Business and Management Studies
- Information & Communication Technology
- Education (ECD)
- Sports Fitness and management
- Performing Arts
- Practical Programmes
Eligibility requirements for this bursary include:
- Must be between 18 and 28 years old
- Must have completed Matric
- Must have achieved a minimum 50% pass rate
- Must have a proven financial need
- Must undertake studies at one of the following TVET colleges: College of Cape Town, South Cape College, West Coast College, Boland College, Northlink College, False Bay College.
Department of Tourism Bursary
The Department of Tourism, as one of the South African government departments, is responsible for the development and promotion of tourism within South Africa, as well as from other countries to South Africa.
The Department is inviting students to apply for their bursary programme.
Bursaries will be awarded for studies within the following fields, at Undergraduate (Diploma/ Degree) and Postgraduate (Hons MSc/ MTech Masters/ PhD) level:
- Tourism Development / Tourism Management
- Economics
- Development Studies
- Business Management
- Communication Science / Journalism / Public Relations
- Computer Science / Information Technology (including Data Processing, Data Warehousing and related, Software Development)
- Internal Audit (including Forensic / IT Audit)
- Risk Management
- Statistics / Data Management
- Supply Chain Management
Eligibility requirements of this bursary include:
- You must be a South African citizen
- You must have completed Matric
- You must be studying full-time towards a Undergraduate or Postgraduate qualification, in one of the fields listed above
- You must be studying at a recognised and accredited tertiary institution in South Africa
GrandWest Bursary
GrandWest Casino and Entertainment World is the biggest entertainment destination in South Africa. GrandWest is inviting students to apply for their bursary programme.
Bursaries will be awarded to students from the Western Cape, for undergraduate studies within these fields:
- Tourism and Hospitality
- Agriculture
- Human Resources
- Electrical Engineering
- Entrepreneurship
- Marketing
- Finance
- Information Technology
- Mechanical Engineering
Eligibility requirements include:
- You must be a South African citizen
- You must be under the age of 27 years old
- You must reside within the Western Cape province
- You must have completed Matric in South Africa
- You must be studying or registered to study full time, towards an undergraduate qualification in one of the aforementioned fields of study (postgraduate and part time studies will not be funded)
- You must be studying towards your first degree/ tertiary qualification
- You must be studying or registered to study at one of these public tertiary institutions: University of Cape Town (UCT), University of the Western Cape (UWC), Stellenbosch University (SU) or Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT)
- You must not be carrying subjects from the previous academic year
- You must have a strong academic record
- You must not be employed full time
- Students with disabilities or impairments are encouraged to apply
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS)
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is a government loan and bursary fund for students.
NSFAS application and registration opens in the later part of the year, with the NSFAS closing date usually being in the next calendar year.
NSFAS awards bursaries to students from poor and working class backgrounds, which goes beyond just paying for your fees. The scheme will also pay for your registration, accommodation, transport, books through the monthly distribution of NSFAS allowances.
NSFAS funds most undergraduate courses, but stopped funding postgraduate courses in 2021.
The most important requirement is that your household income should come to R350,000 or less per year. This means that if you add up everyone’s salaries in your house for the year and it comes to over R350,000, you won’t qualify.
Here's who can apply for funding from NSFAS:
- All South African citizens
- All Sassa grant recipients qualify for funding
- Applicants whose combined household income is not more than R350 000 per annum
- Person with disability: Combined household income must not be more than R600 000 per annum
- Students who started studying before 2018 whose household income is not more than R122 000 per annum
