Start a Mobile Hospitality Business

Updated on 22 October 2025 • Reading Time: 3 minutes

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Start a Mobile Hospitality Business

Hospitality is a term that encompasses a vast number of businesses. From accommodation, food and beverage, travel and tourism, and recreation and events. Starting a mobile hospitality business means that you have the benefit of being a part of the tourism and hospitality industry, while having the flexibility of not being in a fixed location.

This article explores a range of hospitality businesses that you can start.

Food Businesses

Food businesses are some of the easiest businesses to turn into a mobile unit. One of the most popular mobile food businesses is a food truck, or a pop-up restaurant.

Start a Food Truck

A food truck is a street food establishment that can be found along the side of a road or at festivals and special events. Our Guide to Launching a Food Truck Business explores this in detail, but there are quite a few personal flair that you can add to make this business your own. For example, to ensure that your food truck is not just another fast food facility, you can tap into vital characteristics of tourist, such as their desire to seek out local and traditional foods. For instance, you can opt to Make and Sell Magwinya or Vetkoek in your truck.

Start a Pop-up Restaurant

Alternatively, you can start a pop-up restaurant. You can learn what the specifics are of How to Set Up a Pop-up Restaurant, but one of the benefits of a pop-up eatery is that you can move your facility to where your customers are, and you can easily adapt to seasonal changes in tourism.

You can also consider a mobile catering service that serves venues, event spaces or other facilities.

In every food business, it is important to remember that food safety and regulations are a matter of health for your customers. Furthermore, every municipality that you move to has different bylaws that you need to comply with.

Travel Businesses

Travel businesses take care of the transportation and movement of people in the hospitality sector. Some business ideas include:

  • Tourbus operators
  • Shuttle services
  • Travel booking agent
  • Tour guides

All of these businesses can be run from anywhere in the country, and can even offer specialised services such as coming to a client’s home to pick them up, book a service or take them on a guided tour. This is just one of many Tourism Businesses to Start.

How To Get Started In Hospitality

One important thing to remember is that any hospitality business needs to be informed by actual market trends and needs. Therefore, you should always start your research first. Start by doing the following.

Research

Always conduct market research to determine what will be best. You will need to research the type of venture, the location where you can attract clients, what services you can sell, as well as the best price to charge.

Based on the information that you have gathered, you can then start to look into registering your business and any of the permits you need. Take the time to set up a business plan that outlines exactly what your business will be, how it will work and how much budget you have available.

Legal Requirements

Legal requirements for your business include any permits you may need from the municipality in which you are operating. This might include safety regulations, food permits, as well as trading licenses. Don’t forget to register your business with CIPC as well as SARS. While registering your business, take into account factors such as the business structure and the type of business you want to run.

Market Job Business

Marketing is a vital part of any business; that is, after all, how you generate interest and awareness for your products and services. Your marketing strategy consists of multiple types of marketing, whether it’s traditional or social media. It is helpful to you, at the very least have some social media accounts where your customers can find you. Additionally, you can also set up a business website that explores what exactly you offer to your clients.

If hospitality has been your inspiration, but you want to know more, read our article on How to Grow Your Hospitality Business in South Africa.

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