Johannesburg – The hospitality industry is on a knife-edge with fears that the battered industry will receive another blow in the form of tougher restrictions following a surge in new Covid-19 cases.
Numbers released by Statistics South Africa on Wednesday regarding insolvencies and liquidations in the accommodation, food, and beverage sector showed the industry was on its knees.
The total number of liquidations increased by 55.3% in the first four months of 2021 compared with the first four months of last year. Rosemary Anderson, the chairperson of the Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa, said the industry could hardly afford further restrictions and that trading under strict compliance together with mass vaccination of citizens was the only solution in the industry’s fight against Covid- 19, and “we still believe it to be the way forward”.
“The hospitality industry was left broken by the first and second waves and many businesses are now so financially compromised that they are unable to hang on any longer, especially in light of a predicted third wave and resultant lockdown measures.
“Some hotels have been closed for more than a year now”
“Some hotels, which are wholly reliant on business and international tourism, have been closed for over a year now,” said Anderson.
Sunday World reported in March that South Africa’s hospitality industry plunged by R15.4-billion in 2020, data from Statistics South Africa showed.
The data show that income from accommodation dropped to R9.8-billion last year compared to R25.2-billion in 2019.
Also read: President Cyril Ramaphosa moves SA into adjusted alert level 2
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