VerifiedTourism and hospitality study in South Africa is funded mainly by government, by the chefs’ professional body, by community trusts attached to casino and mining licences, and by municipalities. Private companies fund very little of it. There is no large corporate tourism or hotel bursary comparable to those in engineering or accounting.
This page lists every funder on this site that pays for tourism, hospitality, travel or professional cookery study, with what each one covers and when it closes.
Who funds tourism and hospitality study
- The national Department of Tourism. It runs the only large tourism bursary open to students anywhere in the country, and it co-funds chef training.
- The South African Chefs Association. Two named funds pay culinary tuition, and the association is the implementing agent for the government chef programme.
- Provincial economic development departments. Three carry tourism in their name and fund students from their own province.
- Community trusts. Casino operators and mining companies fund young people near their operations, and tourism and hospitality are usually among the fields.
- Municipalities. Dozens fund residents, and tourism appears where the local economy depends on it.
Department of Tourism bursary
The Department of Tourism external bursary is open to students across the country rather than one province or town.
It funds more than tourism management. The department employs accountants, lawyers, economists, data analysts and administrators, and its call covers those fields alongside tourism and hospitality qualifications.
It closes in March of the year you study, not the year before. A 2027 application is therefore made in early 2027. The department does not notify unsuccessful applicants: its bursary page states that if you have not been contacted, you should consider your application unsuccessful.
Checked 23 September 2026: the Department of Tourism bursary page shows the 2026 academic-year round finalised and awarded. No 2027 call had been published. Watch that page from January 2027.
National Youth Chefs Training Programme
The National Youth Chefs Training Programme is funded by the Department of Tourism and run by the South African Chefs Association. It trains unemployed young people as professional cooks, and it is the largest route into a cheffing career that costs the student nothing.
Entry requirements are a Grade 12 pass, South African citizenship, an age between 18 and 35, unemployment, proficiency in English and basic numeracy. Tourism as a school subject is an advantage but is not required.
It is a block-release programme. Learners spend one day a week at a hotel school and four days a week at a hotel or catering employer. The first year leads to a National Certificate in Professional Cookery at NQF level 3 over ten months, and two further levels of ten months each lead to a National Diploma in Professional Cookery at NQF level 5.
The Department of Tourism states on its programme page that phase 5 is at its final stage and is the last intake of this programme. Checked 23 September 2026. Do not plan a career on a new intake being advertised.
SA Chefs bursary funds
The South African Chefs Association runs two named funds for culinary students. The larger is the Bryan Montgomery Bursary Fund, which pays R35 000 towards the tuition of one trainee chef for the current year of study. The money goes to the training provider, not to the student.
Its published criteria are that you must:
- be between 18 and 25 years old;
- hold a Grade 12 pass or a recognised equivalent;
- be enrolled in a recognised culinary training programme leading to a career in professional cookery;
- be, or become, an SA Chefs member once enrolled at a culinary school;
- study at an SA Chefs training member institution, on a course lasting at least 12 months;
- be a South African citizen or permanent resident;
- submit a motivation letter;
- be available to SA Chefs and its sponsors for publicity if you are selected.
You submit a certified copy of your ID, a CV, an acceptance letter from the culinary institution, a motivation letter from your principal or lecturer, and your SA Chefs membership number. A selection panel reviews the applications and writes to successful candidates within two months of the closing date.
The 2026 application form gave a closing date of 7 February 2026 and an address of elsu@sachefs.co.za, and it was published in mid-December 2025. Criteria confirmed from the fund’s own info and criteria document on 23 September 2026. No 2027 form had been posted.
The second is the Bill Gallagher Study Assistance Bursary Fund, named after the association’s honorary life president. It is smaller and is not advertised every year. Neither fund was listed as open on the SA Chefs site when we checked on 23 September 2026, so watch sachefs.co.za from December.
CATHSSETA
CATHSSETA is the Culture, Arts, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport Sector Education and Training Authority. It funds bursaries as one of the PIVOTAL programmes paid out of its discretionary grant, alongside learnerships, internships, work-integrated learning, skills programmes and artisan training.
Students cannot apply to it directly. Its own site states who submits the application:
“CATHSSETA makes these funds available during a window period in which it accepts applications from the employers.” — cathsseta.org.za, discretionary grant page
There is no CATHSSETA application form for individuals and no student closing date. The windows quoted elsewhere, usually April and September, are employer windows. Three routes reach the funding:
- Apply for learnerships and internships advertised by employers in hospitality, travel, conservation, gaming and sport.
- Register on the CATHSSETA learner portal, where funded learner opportunities are listed.
- If you are at a TVET or CET college, ask whether it is part of a CATHSSETA-funded project. Colleges are funded directly under the strategic projects allocation.
CATHSSETA covers six sub-sectors: arts, culture and heritage; hospitality; tourism and travel; conservation; gaming and lotteries; and sport, recreation and fitness. Its office is at 270 George Road, Noordwyk, Midrand, on 011 217 0600 or info@cathsseta.org.za.
Hotel and casino bursaries
The FEDHASA Cape bursary comes from the hospitality industry federation and funds hospitality management, tourism management, hotel and catering studies, professional cookery and culinary arts, and food and beverage management in the Western Cape. Its last published call was worth R70 000 in total and required applicants to have finished second year, or to be in the final year of a two-year programme, with proof of financial need and a letter of motivation. The money was paid to the college rather than to the student, and the college had to report twice a year on the student’s progress. That call is several years old, so treat the criteria as a guide and contact FEDHASA Cape before applying.
Casino operators fund students under the social commitments attached to their gambling licences, so their bursaries are tied to a location rather than run company-wide. The GrandWest bursary in the Western Cape names hospitality and tourism among its fields. The Sun City Resort bursary has funded North West students in hospitality, tourism and conservation. Neither runs every year.
The Arena Academy bursary funded hospitality and events management alongside management, marketing and media qualifications at Boston. Its last confirmed round awarded 13 bursaries worth R2.5 million in total and closed in January 2023.
Conservation and ecotourism bursaries
| Funder | What it funds for tourism | Closing |
|---|---|---|
| SIOC Community Development Trust | Ecotourism management, hospitality management, arts and culture heritage | 30 November |
| SANParks | Tourism alongside conservation, engineering and trades, for communities next to the national parks | August |
| iSimangaliso Wetland Park | Conservation and tourism careers, for people living around the park in northern KwaZulu-Natal | Varies |
| SAFCOL | Eco-tourism and agro-tourism, within its forestry-linked bursary | Varies |
SIOC-CDT is funded by the Sishen Iron Ore Company’s host communities in the Northern Cape. Its 2027 round is open until 30 November 2026, and applicants must come from its host community area.
Provincial department bursaries
- DEDEAT — the Eastern Cape Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism funds provincial students in the fields behind its mandate.
- LEDET — the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism funds Limpopo students in fields tied to the province’s development priorities.
- Moses Kotane Institute — the KwaZulu-Natal institute funds tourism study covering hospitality management, marketing and environmental sustainability.
The EDTEA bursary is run by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, but it funds aeronautical engineering students, not tourism students.
Municipal bursaries
Municipal bursaries require residence in the municipality, and the fields funded follow the local economy. Tourism appears in tourism-dependent areas: the Garden Route, the Overberg, the Klein Karoo and the Limpopo lowveld.
| Municipality | Province | Typical closing |
|---|---|---|
| Oudtshoorn | Western Cape | Varies |
| Cape Agulhas | Western Cape | January |
| Overberg District | Western Cape | Varies |
| Drakenstein | Western Cape | October |
| Bushbuckridge | Mpumalanga | January |
| Greater Letaba | Limpopo | January |
| Ephraim Mogale | Limpopo | Varies |
| Vhembe District | Limpopo | January |
| Capricorn District | Limpopo | December |
| Thabo Mofutsanyana District | Free State | February |
Municipal rounds are short and are often advertised only at the civic centre or in a local paper. Phone the municipality in October to ask when the advert goes out.
TVET college funding
NSFAS funds public TVET college study in full for students who qualify, including tourism, hospitality and professional cookery programmes. The Access Trust bursary funds TVET students in travel and tourism, hospitality and other fields, and closes at the end of November.
Most private hotel schools are not covered by NSFAS. If you are aiming at one, the SA Chefs funds and a payment plan with the school are the realistic routes.
When to apply
| Period | Action |
|---|---|
| October – November | Apply to NSFAS. Apply to SIOC-CDT and Access Trust if eligible. Phone your municipality about its bursary advert. |
| December – February | The Bryan Montgomery Bursary Fund form appears in mid-December and closed on 7 February in the last round. Municipal rounds close, mostly in January. |
| January – March | Watch the Department of Tourism bursary page and apply when the call appears. |
| All year | Watch employer-advertised learnerships and internships, which is how CATHSSETA funding reaches students. |
See also our full bursaries list, commerce bursaries for management and marketing funders, and government bursaries for national and provincial schemes.