Booze and travel rules will kill us, tourism players say
● Restaurants, casinos, gyms evolving fast to welcome customers back
Disposable menus at restaurants, screens between slot machines at casinos, gaming floors open only to loyalty members and strict sanitisation at hotels will become the new normal when the tourism and entertainment sector reopens.
However, if liquor and interprovincial travel regulations are not eased, most establishments might as well remain shut, according to the tourism industry.
The Tourism Business Council of SA, which represents a sector that employs more than 1.5-million people, told the government on Friday that alcohol sales must be allowed at restaurants and hotels outside the hours of 9am to 5pm, Monday to Thursday.
“There are restaurants that only open from Thursday to Sunday. They might as well not open,” council CEO Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa said.
If the liquor regulations were not eased “there will be no industry left.
“No hotels, no casinos. Tourism will be history”.
“Other African countries will open up and we will lose the status of being an aviation hub.”
The same applied to the interprovincial travel restriction.
“You can’t say you are opening leisure travel but you are not allowing people to leave their houses to travel.
“The feeders for North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga are Gauteng residents,” Tshivhengwa said.
The council’s discussions with President Cyril Ramaphosa before Wednesday’s reopening announcement had been cordial, he said.
He said that when the tourism sector met Ramaphosa before Wednesday’s announcement, the president understood the plight of the sector.
“The president understood what we were presenting to him.
“We also said we will develop the protocols on how to operate safely within the value chain of tourism, which is put in a very comprehensive document.”
Under the proposed protocols, patrons will be screened when they enter a restaurant.
Their temperature, name and contact number will be recorded.
“There will be more space between tables.
“The staff will have to follow certain protocols when sanitising the table and other equipment.
“The menus will be disposable menus. There will be a protocol around the kitchen,” Tshivhengwa said.
Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa CEO Lee Zama said the industry was already highly regulated in terms of food safety and general safety. “The additional Covid-19 measures are doable.”
At casinos, protective screens may be erected between slot machines, while some will be moved out to allow for social distancing, Sun International hospitality COO Graham Wood said.
The sector had proposed that gambling be open only to loyalty programme cardholders.
National Arts Council CEO Rosemary Mangope said social distancing requirements, which limit audience numbers, might make it “extremely difficult” for smaller theatres to reopen.
Live entertainment would be “very different” due to masks and distancing, National Arts Festival CEO Monica Newton said.
“We may be looking at very small audiences of 50 or fewer.
“[And] there is the critical question of audience behaviour; will audiences want to gather, even in small groups, with the necessary safety provisions in place?”
Cinema groups Nu Metro and Ster-Kinekor said proposed protocols included limiting seating capacity and staggering access, encouraging online ticket purchasing, extensive social distancing measures and nightly deep cleaning.
Gyms remain out of bounds under the relaxed restrictions, but big operators said they were in close contact with the government about when and how they could reopen.
Planet Fitness CEO Manny Rivera said he hoped to reopen the company’s 47 gyms by July 1, and Virgin Active showed government officials proposed safety measures at one of its 133 gyms last week.
Gym members are expected to have to arrive dressed for exercise, class numbers will be reduced, saunas and steam rooms will be closed, every second exercise machine will be disabled, some equipment will be removed, and there will be daily deep cleaning.
A Virgin Active spokesperson said: “Exercise has emotional, social, immunity and cognitive benefits, and we’ve made technological and operational changes to ensure that members can safely social distance but reap the benefits only regular exercise can bring.
“We have extensively surveyed members ... There has been an overwhelming indication that our members will join us once we open, with the measures we have outlined.”
Andrew Rothschild, owner of Sweat 1000, said the chain’s branch in Houston, Texas, which reopened on May 18, was a template for how its SA gyms would operate.
“Our numbers [in the US branch] have actually increased by approximately 200 more visits in the month they were reopened [compared with when they were closed after February].
“We hope this will be a trend when the SA branches reopen,” he said.