There are positive signs in both the domestic leisure and inbound tourism space and there are strong expectations that domestic leisure tourism will open “very soon” followed by inbound at least in September 2020, or “maybe even sooner than that”.
This message came from CEO of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA), Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, who spoke to Tourism Update on Thursday (June 11) following his presentation of the Tourism Recover Strategy to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Tourism (PCoT) on Tuesday (June 9).
He said the TBCSA’s presentation to the PCoT was to inform and to “emphasise the need to reopen South Africa’s borders earlier” to ensure the country was ready to welcome tourists.
“We also needed to highlight the potentially devastating impact on the country’s economy, let alone the sector, should the reopening not take place this year,” said Tshivhengwa.
He said the presentation of the Tourism Recovery Strategy – which received extensive input from various industry associations and tourism businesses – had been well received by the PCoT and that they had acknowledged the vital role tourism played in growing South Africa’s economy and in job creation.
“We receive calls every day from tourism companies that are on the brink of having to retrench staff or close down. We have many, many jobs to protect in tourism. If we do not protect the value chain, it’s going to be very difficult to reinstate it. And, if we do not do something soon, there are too many companies that will be beyond the point of no return,” said Tshivhengwa.
He told Tourism Update that one of the most important aspects was to communicate the need to open the inbound market by September. “There have been many statements that talked about opening in 2021. We are no longer talking about opening in 2021, but instead we are talking about how important it is to open as soon as possible this year. Our approach to opening is guided by health and safety protocols that emphasise the need to protect staff, guests, and suppliers within our sector.”
The next steps forward
Following the PCoT presentation – and gaining the Committee’s support on an earlier reopening – the TBCSA will, with private- and public-sector support, continue to lobby government (including the National Coronavirus Command Council) with data-driven information supporting a sound, safe and responsible plan for reopening the tourism sector.
“We know that the public sector, and our private-sector tourism stakeholders, are all equally committed to this goal. This is our sector,” emphasised Tshivhengwa.
While many Tourism Update readers have welcomed the TBCSA, South African Tourism and other industry stakeholders’ efforts to change the narrative and create awareness about the role tourism plays in the economy, others have expressed concern that many lawmakers still do not properly understand the tourism sector and the impact it has.
“It definitely seems to me that, instead of listening to the experts who came up with a detailed, well-thought-through plan and necessary protocols, the government now wants to politicise and dictate,” wrote Angela Matthews, Director of Alpha Destinations, in a comment on the article following the PCoT meeting.
CEO of Private Safaris DMC, Monika Iuel, however said this was a great step forward for the industry. “I think the key here is that government is engaging us on the ‘how’, which is a massive departure from where we were a week ago. Now we can start building the plan in earnest, with data-driven recommendations on which markets and in which manner this can be done.”
EDITOR’S NOTE
Tourism contributes 8.6% to South Africa’s total GDP and accounts for 1.5 million jobs.
