SA’ prepares for an influx of loaded UK tourists
OUTH Africa's beleaguered tourism sector is preparing for an influx of British visitors ahead of the busy summer season. This comes amid the United Kingdom's decision to ease travel restrictions between the two countries.
The UK has traditionally been South Africa's largest source market for tourists. More than 430,000 UK tourists visited South Africa in 2019, representing almost 30 percent of all European arrivals. It's estimated that UK tourists pump up to R790 million into the economy every month during the busy season.
But the global Covid-19 pandemic, associated lockdowns, and travel bans – in this instance, the UK's traffic light system — ground international tourism to halt. Less than 11,000 UK travellers entered South Africa during the first half of 2021, a drop of more than 95 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels.
The UK recently removed South Africa from the red list — a category of Covid-19 risk which restricted travel and enforced a costly mandatory quarantine period — to the delight of the tourism industry.
And interest in South African summer vacations has surged, with travel agencies and tour operators reporting a flurry of bookings.
Some of these even came in anticipation of South Africa being removed from the red list. “The number of quotes this (last] week (between 4 and 8 October) was the highest in 19 months, with quotes from the UK up 150 percent and confirmed bookings up 100percent on the same week a month prior,” Craig Smith, the CEO of New Frontiers Tours, told Business Insider South Africa.
“This was just in anticipation of the green list, and we expect significantly higher numbers next [this] week once the revised status has been digested by the marketplace.”
Rhino Africa, which offers safaris and tours in the region, reported pre-Covid-19 enquiry levels following the reopening of travel between the UK and South Africa.
“We expect to see momentum continue to build through October. Since Thursday (7 October, when South Africa was removed from the red list), we have confirmed over R11 million in new sales with 60 percent of all sales for the November/December 2021 travel period,” David Ryan, CEO and founder of Rhino Africa told Business Insider SA.
“This is exciting news for our industry and no doubt our next collective challenge will be capacity of our industry to cope with the increased demands given the significant but necessary cuts we were forced to make. This is the type of challenge we all welcome.”
South Africa's tourism sector — hit harder than most due to international travel bans emanating from panic over the Beta variant — has seen businesses close and jobs lost.
This extends to the hospitality sector, part of the tourism sector's ecosystem, with restaurants and hotels battered by harsh lockdown restrictions imposing alcohol bans and curfews. Business Insider.