Business chamber highlights crumbling tourism industry
MBOMBELA - The Mpumalanga tourism industry is still reeling from the damage done by the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic the past year.
But, according to outgoing president of the Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism (KLCBT), Oupa Pilane, Covid-19 can not be blamed for all the industry’s woes. Pilane addressed attendees of the KLCBT’s annual general meeting today at Emnotweni on Thursday April 22.
He had strongly worded messages for the Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport in Mpumalanga as well as for the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA).
“Public works, roads and transport makes promises, but does not follow through, and roads to tourist attractions that are not maintained have severe consequences for the entire tourism industry,” he said.
The recent industrial action by the MTPA workers was also met with criticism. “It happens at least twice or thrice a year that we are being held at ransom by strikes,” Pilane said.
He told MTPA CEO, Johannes Nobunga, who also attended the event, that a permanent solution needs to be found for this issue, because “it has a direct impact on tourism”.
As a result of these factors, Pilane said the industry can only hope to recover by 2023/4. He said the recovery process is further hampered by the reference - inside as well as outside the country - to the “South African variant” of Covid-19. He blamed the SABC in this regard.
According to the World Health Organisation, the official name for this variant is “501Y.V2, because of a N501Y mutation”.
Pilane also mentioned the recent statements by the USA about the safety of South Africa as a tourism destination, “making it sound as though every person you get into contact with can infect you with Covid-19 and you will get mugged at every single traffic light”. He went on to say that the USA “is not particularly better off”.
Further, according to Pilane, who is also the chairperson of the Southern Africa Tourism Services Association Mpumalanga Chapter, another factor hindering the progress and recovery of tourism in the country is that “we do not market our tourism products” to neighbouring countries.
“This will be crucial in the coming years, seeing as tourism the country receives from key markets such as the UK, Germany and the USA is still 90 per cent lower than it was before Covid-19.”
Pilane said the benchmark for the health standard in a country is the number of vaccinations that have been administered to its citizens. Here, South Africa is severely lacking. “Fewer than 20 000 people have been vaccinated in a province (Mpumalanga) of about four million people.” He said at least 150 000 need to be vaccinated daily for the practice to have the desired effect.
One positive that Pilane highlighted was the fact that, after having met with the Department of Health, employees in the tourism sector are now considered to be frontline workers and can be regarded for the vaccine.