Tourism industry facing decimation

There will be ‘nothing left’ of SA’s tourism industry if it is not able to start operating in general again until December – as seems likely in light of current coronavirus projections – Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, the CEO of the Tourism Business Council of SA, has warned. The TBCSA is a not-for-profit umbrella organisation representing businesses in the travel and tourism sector, notes a Fin24 report. It has been estimated by the World Travel and Tourism Council that SA's tourism industry provided jobs for more than 700 000 people by 2019. The industry has been decimated by travel and movement restrictions imposed by in an attempt to curb the spread of the pandemic. A survey released by the council, in conjunction with the Department of Tourism, shows that 83% of the firms that responded said revenues for March 2020 were down more than 50% compared to March 2019. One in three firms, meanwhile, said their revenues stood at zero. About 58% of firms surveyed said they are unable to service their debts and 54% of firms were unable to cover fixed costs in March 2020.

The domestic tourism season will likely only start in December and international tourism only next year, Minister of Tourism Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane recently indicated during an online briefing hosted by SA Tourism. She is hopeful that her department, in conjunction with SA Tourism, could have a tourism recovery plan ready by late May, says the Fin24 report. For Tshivhengwa, a key focus for national industry bodies right now must be to see how it can ‘de-risk’ certain segments of the industry. The hope is that certain business tourism segments might be able to open sooner under lockdown if they can show that they have clear measures in place to prevent the risk of the virus spreading. Under current regulations, most tourism establishments will only be able to open under level one of the nationwide lockdown, while some will be able to operate under level two. ‘The message the TBCSA is sending government is that, if we wait until December, there will be no hotels or events or conference organisers or tour operators left and we will have nothing to reopen,’ he said during a webinar hosted by SA Tourism this week.