Tourism to feel heat of Covid-19: ZNCC report

AS local businesses grapple with the effects of Covid19 on their operations, employees are not going to be spared, with the tourism sector expected to be the hardest hit, shedding a quarter of its workforce.

Overall, there is going to be loss of employment amounting to 25 percent of permanent formal jobs across the economy and 75 percent of casual/temporary formal jobs lost as businesses lay off workers given the sharp contraction in many sectors.

According to a survey done by the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) on the impact of the lockdown on businesses, the tourism sector is expected to shed about 25 percent of its workforce as the effects of Covid-19 bite.

Already, some hospitality groups have closed operations due to low business as the world battles travel restrictions imposed in order to limit the spread of the virus.

The survey was done during the initial 21-day national lockdown, before it was extended by a further 14 days.

The ZNCC indicated that a total lockdown posed a huge challenge to hospitality and leisure spots and some of them might fail to recover.

“The tourism sector will be the most hard hit as it is expected to shed almost 25 percent of the total formal sector employment followed by the manufacturing sector,” ZNCC said in a report.

“If the total lockdown is extended without resorting to partial lockdown, some of the leisure and tourism operators might completely collapse with Government having set the minimum wage, affordability by businesses is going to be a challenge as businesses adjust due to the effects of Covid-19,” said the business apex body.

Government had identified tourism as one of the sectors to drive economic growth together with agriculture and mining. However, the Covid-19 outbreak, declared a global pandemic, has dampened prospects as countries restrict movements and implement lockdowns as part of measures to contain the spread of the virus. Global airlines have also lost business in what is called the worst economic crisis since the SARS influenza outbreak over a decade ago.

The World Bank already projects a decline in GDP for the sub-Saharan Africa region on the back of low agriculture production as well as decline in tourism due to disturbances caused by the virus.

Africa Renewal reports that a study by the African Union shows that Africa’s tourism and aviation sectors are already reeling from the impact of Covid-19 with hotels laying off workers and travel agencies shutting down.

The study shows that under the average scenario, the tourism and travel sectors in Africa could lose at least US$50 billion, and at least two million direct and indirect jobs.

Top African airlines, including Ethiopian Airlines, EgyptAir, Kenya Airways and South African Airways, will be affected by travel restrictions across the world.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Africa’s air transport industry contributes up to US$55,8 billion, which is 2,6 percent Africa’s GDP and supports 6,2 million jobs. By 11 March, African airlines had lost US$4,4 billion in revenue due to fallout from the pandemic.