Western Cape: let in all tourists who follow rules
• MEC Maynier says province will propose to government an alternative approach to holidaymakers
The Western Cape government says it wants an alternative approach to international travel because the survival of the province ’ s tourism and hospitality sectors depends on source markets, such as the UK and US, now restricted from travelling for leisure to SA. Business travellers from highrisk countries are allowed to enter SA. Finance MEC David Maynier said the province believes the safety precautions put in place by the national government, such as a negative Covid-19 test at most 72 hours before arrival, should be applied to those coming from high-risk countries, regardless of their purpose of travel.
The Western Cape government says it wants an alternative approach to international travel as the survival of the province s tourism and hospitality sectors depends on source markets, such as the UK and US.
People in those countries are now restricted from travelling for leisure to SA.
The government issued a list of high-risk countries on Wednesday. Residents of those countries will not be allowed to travel to SA as tourists but they will be allowed to enter if visiting on business.
Finance MEC David Maynier said that the Western Cape government believed the safety precautions put in place by the national government should be applied to those coming from high-risk countries, regardless of their purpose in travelling.
These precautions included the 72-hours Covid-19 test and screening protocols for all travellers.
It is unfair to restrict leisure travellers from high-risk countries as there is simply no greater risk of transmission based on the purpose of travel,” he said.
Maynier said that the Western Cape was engaging with the national government and preparing a submission that would propose an alternative to the risk-based approach on international travel.
We have worked hard to “ensure that Cape Town and the Western Cape are safe for travellers and [are] ready to welcome international visitors, because our leisure travellers from source markets such as the UK, US, Netherlands and France make the most of our favourable exchange rate and have a high spending potential which positively impacts our local economy,” said Maynier.
Hotel and casino group Sun International said that it was happy that Africa was open for travel again because this would help with immediate inbound demand.
The UK and the USA are our two biggest source markets, however, so without them we have to remain cautious about international tourism,” said group COO for hospitality Graham Wood.
Germany and China are partners for us, but it will take a while for both of these markets to bounce back to prelockdown levels,” he said. China, where the coronavirus first emerged late in 2019 in Wuhan, and Germany were not on the list of highrisk countries.
SA s borders opened on Thursday after a six-month closure to try to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
The country moved to level 1 of the lockdown early in September, with President Cyril Ramaphosa announcing that the country s borders would be opened on October 1, but with restrictions.
Those wanting to travel on business from the high-risk countries on the list will have to apply in writing to the home affairs minister.
The list of countries will be reviewed every two weeks.
The French embassy in SA said it was encouraged that business travellers and investors from its country would be able to enter. It also welcomed the commitment by the government to review the list of highrisk countries.
The embassy said France had about 550,000 confirmed cases, and that the figure related to the high number of tests the country was conducting each week.
The percentage of positive tests was 7.6% and activity in high-risk areas of France had been restricted. With 135,000 French tourists every year in SA, France is the fifth country of origin for tourism in SA. The flow of tourists from France is especially high between October and March every year and SA could benefit significantly from an increase in cross-border activities,” the embassy said.
Once travelling is allowed, passengers from France will strictly abide by the rules set by the SA government.”
The tourism industry welcomed the government s decision to open SA s borders, but the regulations and list of countries restricted from holidaying in the country will make travelling complex.
Andrew Stark, Flight Centre Travel Group MD for Middle East and Africa, said the ever-changing travel regulations and requirements of destinations across the world meant the travel landscape would be difficult to navigate.
For now, it is clear that business travellers have more freedom than they had in the past six months, while leisure travellers are somewhat more restricted,” he said.
However, Stark said that while the reopening of the borders was a vital step in the right direction, the return to travel would not be immediate, and holidaymakers should not throw caution to the wind.