Tourvest is considering closing down its inbound business in South America as the market has died down, says Tommy Edmond, Tourvest Group Chief Executive.
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Briefing the media at a roundtable discussion on Wednesday, Edmond explained that the South American market was “dead”. Arrivals from Central and South America were down 40% year to date in May this year, according to figures released by Statistics South Africa. “The South American market is dead,” said Edmond. “We spent a fortune for four to five years on marketing to South America. Our business is dead.”
Earlier this year, former SA Ambassador to Argentina, Tony Leon, said South Africa’s new regulations, which include the requirement that children under 18 travel with an unabridged birth certificate, have all but shut down inbound sports tours. He explained that SA would typically receive up to 50 schoolboy rugby teams a year visiting the country but the market was now dead.
Edmond also pointed out that there was also a lack of direct flights from South America. SAA cut its direct flights from Argentina in 2013.
He said the company would make a decision within the next week on whether to close the South American business or not.
While South Africa had made it into the current overseas tour operator brochures, Edmond warned that changes would need to be made to the country’s immigration regulations to ensure the country’s inclusion in further brochures. He added that, if SA did not make it into the brochures, it would suffer even greater declines in tourist arrival figures. In May, overseas arrivals to SA were down 10%, year to date.
According to Edmond, the group will look to expand its European client base, particularly for travel into Eastern Africa. He said that while the regions had suffered as a result of security threats, he believed the region would make a comeback.
