Take care of the locals, tourism told
TOUGH TIMES: ONCE-VIBRANT INDUSTRY HARDEST HIT
Airlines likely to be grounded until the first week of December.
On weekends, most people used to hit the road and find some fun activity or would enjoy an evening out at a restaurant after work. That was the heyday of the SA tourism sector, which in 2019 accounted for 1.5 million jobs and represented 8.6% of all economic activity in the country, according to an annual review by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).
It was a vibrant industry, primarily driven by leisure pursuits and able to lure international tourism spend as well as domestic travellers.
But things have changed, with the coronavirus.
Not dead yet
Tourism is the hardest hit industry.
Prior to the lockdown at the end of March, many had already limited their movements and started to cancel their leisure bookings in fear of the virus.
The only places currently open in the sector were hotels being used for quarantine purposes, and airports receiving returning South Africans.
Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said the industry needed to think of creative ways to revitalise the industry post Covid-19.
“One has to ensure that we have a tourism sector that can respond to the challenge. We know we are not going to be the same and if we think that we are going to continue like we did [previously], it is not going to work.”
One of the core issues she advised the tourism sector to look into is pricing.
“Be realistic with South African’s financial situation post Covid-19, as many will have less money to spend.
“We can adapt in the sense that we look at the pricing and what are the main issues that people have been raising with us in domestic tourism,” Kubayi-Ngubane said.
She pointed out that in the past people complained that travelling is expensive.
Moving forward, she advised that, to attract consumers into the tourism sector, there needed to be an introspection into pricing.
Domestic tourists were the people the sector would like to attract, she said. “Are we going to be able to get them?”
She also highlighted that international marketing needs had to be reviewed, “as foreigners spend more on travelling”.
However, based on last year’s WTTC report, 44% of SA’s tourism spend came from international travellers and 56% from domestic travel.
She emphasised that companies needed to put in place “packages that would be attractive”, showing that the tourism industry could still function while adhering to the new way of doing things post Covid-19.
We know we are not going to be the same
Job losses
According to the WTTC up to 50 million jobs worldwide in the travel and tourism industry could be lost.
It said that even when the outbreak was over, it could take up to 10 months for the tourism sector to recover. For destinations like those in Africa, it could take well over a year.
This was not far-fetched: Kubayi-Ngubane said local airlines were likely to be grounded until the first week of December – which was adding to hotel bookings being cancelled and many restaurants shutting their doors.