Thomas Cook collapse could dent SA tourism
● The demise of UK travel company Thomas Cook this week is expected to be felt locally, especially in the Western Cape where about one-fifth of tourist bookings from the UK have traditionally come through the company.
Michael Tollman, CEO of travel and tour operator group Cullinan Holdings, says the liquidation of Thomas Cook will have a significant impact on South African tourism over the rest of this year and for many years to come.
“This is the loss of a great, loyal and experienced promoter and seller of tourism to SA, both from the UK and Europe,” he says.
“But no supplier [locally] will be dramatically financially affected by this, so business will carry on, although certainly there will be material losses to the industry as a result of cancellations and nonpayment for services rendered as a result of liquidation.”
About 15% of foreign visitors to SA come from the UK, says Cornelis van der Waal, chief research officer at Wesgro, the official tourism, trade and investment promotion agency for the Western Cape.
“From that point of view, it’s important. About 20% of UK bookings have traditionally been done through Thomas Cook and hence they played an important role in our largest source market.”
Cullinan Holdings, whose brands include Thompsons Africa and Springbok Atlas Tours & Safaris, decided on Monday to support all visitors who had booked through Thomas Cook, and quickly received support from hotels and coach operators.
“We’re all going to contribute and make sure everyone’s holidays are taken care of, though we are not legally required to do so,” Tollman says.
This would cost local suppliers and travel operators several million rands, but he says it is important “to do the right thing” in a situation like this.
Tollman says local operators such as coach companies and hotels that Thomas Cook used to work through are likely to suffer financially.
But Unathi Sonwabile Henama, a tourism lecturer at Tshwane University of Technology, says there will not necessarily be a direct impact on SA.
“It is just a company that went bust, but for it to go bust it also shows that it was already losing market share as a company. I don’t believe that there will be any impact negatively on tourism in SA.”
Henama says the impact on jobs will be muted because the boom in tourism is “not stopping any time soon”.
Inge Dykman, head of leisure tourism at Wesgro, says the closure of Thomas Cook is a concern but is not expected to have a “huge” effect.
Dykman says Thomas Cook brought in the more conservative, traditional type of traveller, but the trend is towards booking online. Many tourists now contact hotels directly
Business will carry on, although certainly there will be material losses Michael Tollman
CEO of Cullinan Holdings
via e-mail or portals such as Expedia, Trivago and Bookings.com.
Thomas Cook offered packages, but people have become more selective and prefer to tailor trips to suit their own requirements, Dykman says.
“We’ve seen that since 2010,” she says. “There will always be a need to deal with people, but not necessarily bricks and mortar.”
Dykman says expectations for the forthcoming festive season are positive.
The Western Cape had a tough season last year because of the drought. Overall, the numbers were flat at about 1.7-million foreign visitors.
Van der Waal agrees that numbers for the summer festive season look “quite healthy”, with some predicting growth of about 8% over the previous season.
“It’s looking like quite a strong festive season,” he says.
“The drought has been broken. We will always be a water-scarce region and country, but the country is beautifully green, dams are 81% full and Cape Town remains a bucket-list destination.”
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