Johannesburg- South Africa’s economy and the embattled tourism industry stand to lose out on millions of rand after the UK thwarted government’s latest eff orts to remove the country from its travel red list.
Red-list countries are those the UK government says present the highest Covid risk and should not be visited “except in the most extreme of circumstances”. The UK on Friday confirmed that South Africa remained on its red list, despite the slowdown of new infections.
Busi Mavuso, the chief executive of Business Leadership South Africa, said the UK’s decision was “baffling”.
“If the UK wants to project its values and free-market principles abroad, this is an odd way to go about it. We now need a clear and swift commitment from the British government that it will review South Africa’s travel status in the coming days,” Mavuso said.
The UK accounted for 17% of South Africa’s 2.6-million foreign tourists in 2019, making it one of the biggest source market. A report by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) last month showed that South Africa’s economy could face massive losses of more than R181-million a week if it’s on the UK’s red list for travel.
The industry’s hopes were raised that the UK will take note of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement on Sunday that the country was placed on adjusted level 2 lockdown. David Frost, the CEO of the South African Tourism Services Association, said the decision by the UK placed thousands of jobs at risk.
“There isn’t a shred of scientific evidence to support keeping South Africa on the red list.
“The only conclusion left is that the UK government has an irrational fear of South Africa, which is prejudicing decision-making. The UK government needs to urgently reconsider this classification to avoid irreparable harm to a relationship with a key ally and trading partner,” Frost said.
South Africa’s hospitality industry has been in the doldrums since the outbreak of Covid-19. However, indicators are showing positive signs of pickup for the tourism industry, which is set to be fast-tracked following the move to adjusted level 2. Local hotels have recorded a peak of 63% in August compared to 39% in lockdown level 4
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