The Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) has issued a dire warning about the prospects of the sector battered by COVID-19. Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, CEO of the council, said the industry was weighing its options to stop the daily R748-million loss of tourism expenditure and the further permanent loss of jobs.
“We have tried appealing to the government since the level three lockdown was announced, however, our appeals were not adequately considered,” said Tshivhengwa.
“As a result, we have no choice but to weigh our options on the relief that will protect and save businesses within the sector as well as the value-chain of tourism and hospitality, otherwise the industry is facing permanent closure.”
He added that more than 600 000 employees within the tourism value chain applied for the UIF Temporary Employee/ Employer Relief Scheme programme and this programme ended last month. Tshivhengwa could not be drawn to outline the options the organisation was exploring.
CEO of South African Tourism Sisa Ntshona said though tourism has performed well in recent years, COVID-19 has disrupted the sector and has led to the need for a strategy to restart the sector.
He said tourism has been assessed as primarily a level-one activity within the country’s risk framework, with some operations marginally permissible in level two, and the prevailing view therefore is that the sector will remain inactive for the better part of the 2020/21 financial year.
A survey by the International Finance Corporation, the Department of Tourism and TBCSA found that 99% of responding enterprises in the sector are affected by COVID-19. It further showed that 95% of enterprises report that revenues in May are down more than 50% compared to May 2019, and 75% of enterprises say revenues are 100% less. The tourism sector is heavily reliant on SMEs, which may find it more challenging than larger enterprises to survive.
