After four years of trying to find the right building, tourism entrepreneur and maverick Bheki Dube finally opened a hybrid hotel in Cape Town.spoke to him about his entrepreneurial journey and his plans to take over the hospitality industry in Africa.Backpackers is now operating in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town, with plans on the horizon to expand to the Cradle of Humankind in Gauteng, and the rest of the continent.
“As a black newcomer in that space, it is almost impossible to compete. This is why it is important for me to be in Cape Town. I want to decolonise these spaces by reshaping how people travel in Africa and inspire the upcoming generation to know that they too can break into such markets,” Dube explains heartily.
Dube grew up in Troyeville, Johannesburg, in a building called Barrel Court, which was home to artists, socialists and rebels of the apartheid state. It was around this time that he made friends with people from different parts of the world, who were travelling in Johannesburg. The project became an instant success, prompting Dube to start the next thing – picnics in the sky. On a Sunday you can grab a picnic basket and fill it with goodies at Market On Main on Fox Street before heading to the Carlton Centre Roof of Africa, 50 floors above ground, to enjoy an urban picnic with a view of the city skyline, while learning about the city’s history.
“So when I came back to Maboneng, I was already working on my tours and I started thinking seriously about bringing a backpackers to my neighbourhood, which was already going through an urban rejuvenation.