As holiday plans take shape, remember that Covid is out there too

‘Vacations are a risk,” Luca Zaia, governor of the northeastern region of Veneto in Italy told Euronews after the number of daily coronavirus infections jumped 38% in July when people flocked to the beaches. With Italy having been hit hard by the virus at its peak, the authorities were finding it difficult to contain nightlife in tourist spots or in bar districts in cities. Outdoor cafés and bars were attracting crowds of young people, most not wearing masks. With SA moving to level 2, the tourism sector heaved a sigh of relief when President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that interprovincial and leisure tourism was now allowed. However, the country runs the risk of a spike in infections since level 2 also allows restaurants and bars to operate in full and serve alcohol to sit-down customers, seven days a week.

The choice between saving lives and livelihoods has been stark. The tourism sector, a key driver of economic growth, took a severe hammering during lockdown. The Tourism Business Council of SA (TBCSA) warned at the beginning of July that 600,000 jobs were at risk in the sector, which lost R68bn in the first three months of the hard lockdown.

The TBCSA estimated that 49,000 SMMEs operating in the tourism space had been negatively affected by the lockdown and many had closed their doors for good.

Total income for the tourist accommodation industry decreased by a staggering 98% in May, compared with May 2019, according to the TBCSA.

“If the government does not open interprovincial travel this week, mass retrenchments will start within the sector,” cautioned Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, CEO of the TBCSA, at the beginning of July. The sector is heavily dependent on interprovincial travel. According to figures from Stats SA, 60% of all domestic overnight trips are across provincial boundaries.

Tourism has been the hardest hit sector globally by the pandemic. SA has been flagged by the UN

Conference on Trade & Development as being one of the

15 countries whose tourist industries have suffered the most.

The airline industry is also expecting increased activity as a result of the lifting of restrictions on interprovincial travel. According to a global air travel survey, only 12% of people who were travelling regularly before the virus hit were travelling by July.

As SA readies for the summer, air travel and local tourism will receive a much-needed injection. But with that comes the risk of an increase in cases at a time when daily infections are in the low thousands and declining. While we celebrate with these sectors, they have to play their part and help minimise their contribution to new infections. That means preventative measures have to be respected at all times — these include the wearing of masks where social distancing is difficult or impossible and the constant sanitising of hands, surfaces and utensils. Bars and restaurants have to ensure that patrons enjoy their alcohol responsibly and that staff are not exposed to the virus and have adequate protective equipment.

With international travel still prohibited, this is also an opportune time for the tourism sector to make itself attractive and affordable to South Africans. The big game reserves that are priced for international tourists and out of reach for ordinary South Africans have to think about adjusting their prices to the South African pocket if they are to stand a chance of survival.

We cannot overemphasise how important tourism is to this country, with 1.2-million people dependent on it for their livelihoods.

It is our collective responsibly to make sure that it remains open by not forgetting that the threat of Covid-19 will accompany us wherever we go.

SA is one of the countries whose tourist industries have suffered the most