The Covid-19 pandemic has helped stimulate domestic tourism, encouraging a Johannesburg-based global hotel group, to eye South African travellers for luxury tourist destinations in neighbouring Botswana, Mozambique and a resort close to the iconic Vic Falls in Zambia among other travel spots in their lavish offering.
Johannesburg-born Lindi Mthethwa, Regional Director for Sales and Marketing at Minor Hotels, in Bryanston, said the pandemic has stimulated tourism across South Africa’s borders with people driving to neighbouring Botswana or Namibia, for example.
“When we got into lockdown in March 2020, we realised as it eased, there was an opportunity to target the local domestic market. Now that the lockdown has ended, we have people travelling to places again, and for those not keen on driving, there are flights to places, like Mozambique,” she said.
She said the support their group received during the lockdown when travel was allowed, has continued and with international markets returning, the Minor Hotels are going to make a major push to show Africa off to South Africans.
Mthethwa said the Minor Group, which has more than 550 hotels in 55 countries across Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, the Indian Ocean, Europe and the Americas, also experienced pain during the pandemic. “But the support we got as the lockdown eased, helped us grow, however, monkeypox remains a challenge but there is definitely optimism in the tourism industry,” she said.
“We look at the numbers that we've got in terms of bookings on the system and the properties show there's definitely growth right now. From August to the end of November, people want to travel, with many also planning for December.
“So we haven’t seen a decline in business but there has been an increase in last-minute bookings. So people are holidaying at the last minute when they are not booking the flights they’re doing soft drives,” she said.
On the positive side, she said unlike the effects of Covid-19, monkeypox has not brought business to a halt. “We've been more stable in terms of our businesses,” she said.
Therefore, Mthethwa said Minor Hotels which operated below the radar targeting the four-star and five-star travellers has embarked on a campaign to tell the story of its luxury properties, particularly on the African continent.
Minor Hotels has nine properties in Southern Africa branded as Anantara and Avani brands Avani Victoria Falls Resort, Zambia, The Royal Livingstone Victoria Falls Zambia Hotel by Anantara, Avani Gaborone Hotel & Casino, Botswana, Avani Windhoek Hotel & Casino, Namibia.
The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) expects the sector to return to pre-crisis levels only in 2023. Until then, according to SA Tourism recovery strategy, the sector will largely be in survival mode with many tourism jobs at risk, while some businesses within the sector face the possibility of a permanent closure.
The Tourism Sector Recovery Plan (TSRP) is a response by the sector and its constituent partners to the multiple challenges brought on by the pandemic. The plan acknowledges the need for targeted, co-ordinated action to mitigate the impacts of the crisis and sets the sector on the most optimal path to recovery, transformation and long-term sustainability.
Secretary-General of the UNWTO, Zurab Pololikashvili said in a statement: “This (Covid-19) crisis is an opportunity to rethink the tourism sector and its contribution to the people and planet; an opportunity to build back better towards a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient tourism sector that ensures the benefits of tourism are enjoyed widely and fairly.”
Working through multilateral institutions and platforms such as the African Union’s (AU) Specialised Technical Committee on Transport, Transcontinental and Interregional Infrastructure, Energy and Tourism; the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO); and the G20 Tourism Agenda, South Africa Tourism is pursuing an integrated global approach to tourism recovery as well as drawing lessons from global best practices.