Founder and director of Soweto Tours, Kgomotso Pooe, continues to break boundaries, setting the pace when it comes to local tourism sector.
The man known as “Vuyo the Big Dreamer” through his famous 2014 beer advert, says he has always been a big dreamer and a driven individual, having began his foray into business as a biker and founder of the popular quad biking and tourism company, Soweto Outdoor Adventures, which made quad biking and tourism become synonymous with the coolness of Soweto.
Since then, Pooe has built a recognisable empire through Soweto Tours (Soweto) and his Lagugu Hop on and Hop off travel and tourism brand, which delivers tours to visitors wanting to experience the real Soweto, as well as Cape Town’s leading townships, Langa and Gugulethu.
Much like most businesses, Pooe had a tough time keeping the business afloat during the Covid-19 pandemic. He had to let go of some of his employees as well as key assets in his business, which delivers a great township experience to local and international travellers.
Last week, The Star had an opportunity to experience some of the sites that have made Soweto Tours the country’s leading tourism brand.
“As you can imagine, Covid-19 had a tremendous effect on our business. We were the first industry to shut down and the last industry to re-open. We also had to let go of some of our staff and our fleet which had been recently acquired. Even when we had to re-open. We decided to re-open before other businesses could re-open just so we be the first man on the ball.
“It was not easy as we were only doing about 25 travellers per week, which for a business was not sustainable, but we had to because we understood the situation as some businesses never recovered from the pandemic,” he said.
Pooe who has been in business for almost 20 years now, says having come from a business-centred family made it easy for him to embrace his calling as an entrepreneur.
“Even after working for big local and international corporate companies, I have always been passionate and driven. At some point, I needed to venture into business and follow in the footsteps of my father and grandfather who never understood the concept of working for someone else,” he says.
But for him, getting into business was not that easy. Pooe has had his fair share of challenges which, he says, have made him the person he is today.
This is why Pooe has built his business to be where it is today.
Through Soweto Outdoor Adventures and now Soweto Tours, Pooe continues to inspire greatness by building a trusted relationship within the community he services, and the travellers who rely on him for a true township experience.
“Even though I hate to admit it. I have been a pioneer of tourism and have set the pace that other entrepreneurs try to emulate by being passionate and authentic. We pride ourselves in telling a local story, but most importantly, the story of today and what also makes us different is that we are able to build a win-win relationship with our customers and through that, we are able to give outsiders a unique view into the real Soweto and our visitors experience a truly exceptional grassroots tour of South Africa’s most popular township...,” he adds.
Pooe had a vision of bringing quad bikes to Soweto and turned a patch of grass at a derelict power station into what is today, just one part of his growing tourism empire.
In May 2013, he founded SoWeToo Hop On-Hop Off Tours, along with City Sightseeing Johannesburg and the following year, he was featured in the Hansa Pilsner Cheers to the Dreamers campaign as one of their Dreamers – entrepreneurs who works tirelessly to make their dreams come true.
He decided to expand to the Mother City, and LaGuGu Hop on-Hop Off Township Tours was born. LaGuGu is a word created by Pooe, an acronym for Langa and Gugulethu, “in the same way that Soweto is an acronym for South Western Townships”.
When asked about the famous advert, Pooe says it was so well received that he would get strangers at public gatherings asking him for a beer or two.
“It was such a big thing that at public events including weddings and funerals, strangers would ask me for the famous beer brand. I would sometimes he forced to carry that beer with me,” he quips.
The Star