Background: In recent years, South Africa has, like many other developing countries, invested enormous sums in arranging mega-events.  One of the primary beliefs is that the events should benefit the local entrepreneurs, especially in the tourism industry, and result in economical growth.  The entrepreneurs have different needs and the national government can help satisfying these needs by offering different kinds of support. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe and investigate the governmental support to local tourism entrepreneurs in the region of Cape Town, South Africa. The intention is to identify the entrepreneurs’ needs, the actual support the government provided, and how it can be improved, both in general and in connection to a mega-event. Definitions: SMMEs: Small, Micro and Medium enterprises, HDI: Historically Disadvantaged Individuals. Research procedure: This study has a qualitative approach with a case study design. The empirical findings are based on nine interviews which include five entrepreneurs and four managers from different governmental organisations. Results: The most important qualities among entrepreneurs are an entrepreneurial mindset and to have an understanding of the market. Entrepreneurs in developing countries often lack knowledge and experience and the government can help by offering education and accurate information. In connection with a mega-event, the entrepreneurs need help “becoming ready” which primarily involves supplying qualified products and services, and having an established network. It is highly important that the government acknowledges the different needs among the entrepreneurs and attempts to satisfy them. The government must also reduce ineffective bureaucracy and make it easier for entrepreneurs to receive financial support.

Extant research concludes that SMEs tend to be highly dependent on the local institutional environment when internationalizing. In relation to that, international business literature accentuates the lack of studies that aim to understand how government support influences SMEs' international business performance. This further justifies the current inquiry for conducting more diverse scientific research in order to better describe and evaluate how governments should apply and effectively utilize their support toward internationalizing SMEs. Based on that, the aim of this study was to first identify the approaches that Kalmar based SMEs undertake to internationalize. Second, to identify the current initiatives implemented by the local governmental agencies toward the internationalization of these firms. Third, to identify how the governmental agencies in Kalmar could potentially improve the internationalization support towards the local SMEs. By fulfilling these aims this study was able to answer the overarching research question of How could the Swedish governmental agencies better contribute to the development of the internationalization process of their SMEs at the regional level? International business literature, internationalization process theories in combination with the available knowledge concerning the local institutional environment were utilized to conduct a thorough theoretical base for this study. The theoretical base laid the foundation for the constructed conceptual framework that was later utilized to collect and analyze data derived from five local SMEs and four key governmental agencies. This research project implemented a qualitative methodology and a multiple case study design. The data were collected through ten semi structured interviews. As an outcome, the findings of this study concludes that the identified prevailing internationalization process traits in combination with the uncovered improvement elements for governmental internationalization support, positively influence the configuration between the SMEs internationalization and the local institutional environment. This further contributes to achieving understanding concerning how Swedish regions could foster the internationalization process of their SMEs. Finally, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to address the issue of governmental endeavors toward the internationalization process of Swedish SMEs.