Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Hospitality sector in dire need of help
SOUTH Africa has swiftly been moved to Alert Level 1 after the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
The hospitality industry is relieved by the easing of restrictions and much-anticipated lifting of the alcohol ban, but will this be enough to save it?
The hospitality industry is one of the biggest industries in the country. In 2019, more than 330 385 people were employed by the restaurant and hotel sector. In the January of 2019, the hospitality industry contributed more than R4.7 billion to the economy.
Since then, hundreds of restaurants have closed down and some have filed for bankruptcy.
Enver Duminy, chief executive of Cape Town Tourism, explained that the easing of restrictions alone is not enough to keep the hospitality industry afloat.
“Cape Town Tourism’s recent Covid-19 impact report highlights that our members have lost a total of R2bn and just under 12 000 jobs during what would have been high season in Cape Town.”
He added that with a third wave of the pandemic expected to surge this winter, the hospitality and tourism sectors are in dire need of government intervention.
“We are needing to hear about how the government plans to take immediate steps for an economic revival within the sector in order to ensure the survival of the tourism industry as a whole. If not, there will be no industry to speak of a few months down the line.”
Primi Piatti group operations manager Andrew van Heerden feels strongly that the restaurant industry would crumble if a lockdown were to follow the coming third wave.
“The restaurant industry has been clearly dragged through this messy attempt of flattening the curve.
“Having said that, there’s a lot of fight left in this industry and with time we will slowly get back to where we were.”