• SME Market Access Program
• Project Design and Strategy
• Training and Facilitation
• ICT Solutions
• SME Energy Solutions

SME Energy Solutions

WHL Consulting has conducted business surveys of hundreds of tourism SMEs in various regions around the world and an important finding is that energy falls amongst the top three operating costs for any small hotel or guest house.  These costs can rise to as high as 60% of the total monthly operating costs for a small business.

Business Intelligence

In response to this, WHL Consulting has created a special tool that can rapidly assess energy usage and needs at an enterprise level, suitable specifically for SMEs that may not have the resources to pay for complicated and expensive detailed energy audits.  We have incorporated this as a module in our Market Readiness Assessments tool.  Since the assessments are taken at the enterprise level, and are undertaken at most operator sites in a destination, we are able to identify both operator specific energy needs as well as systemic needs at the macro destination or national level (depending on the size of the destination).  These can help identify both individual measures for targeting energy costs, as well as national programmes.

Enterprise Level and Destination Support

By using energy more efficiently and by maximising viable renewable energy opportunities, we work with a business to not only reduce its operating costs, but also to minimise its climate change impact.  Our expertise is in identifying real market led energy needs, whether these needs involve soft skills development or capital investment.  We focus first on initiatives that will achieve the “quick wins”. 

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Solutions

In addition to generating useful business intelligence, WHL Consulting also has experts on its team who specialise in renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions, based on practical experience with technologies and their implementation in our main target destinations.  

Access to Finance

Not only do we have a track record in energy solutions for small hotels, but because of our deep relationships with both financial institutions and local energy enterprises we are able to provide a sophisticated approach toward solving access to finance needs. What many tourism SMEs don’t realize is that access to finance can simultaneously solve problems with unreliable and unaffordable energy.  WHL Consulting has seen this gap in the market and is able to package financing solutions.