With the demand for domestic travel at an all-time high, South African National Parks (SANParks) revealed how it will manage overnight accommodation in its various national parks.
SANParks chief executive officer Fundisile Mketeni said as economic activities have been gradually opening, a risk-adjusted strategy has been at the core of every sector or industry. “In dealing with the expected accommodation bookings influx, SANParks has aligned itself with a similar strategy for overnight bookings particularly for inter-provincial travellers to national parks.”
Mketeni said the gazette 43620 issued on Monday, August 17, stipulates that all accommodation establishments restrict the number of persons allowed in its establishments to not more than 50 percent of the facility. “Practically, this means that SANParks will be obligated to amend or cancel bookings in parks and camps that are currently booked beyond that capacity and in addition, to reject new bookings that may lead to operating above the regulated 50 percent threshold," he said.
Mketeni said that while SANParks understands the inconvenience and the frustration this will create for domestic travellers, its reservations team are on hand to assist with regards to reallocating bookings from one camp to another within the same park to ensure that we are operating in adherence to the law at all times.
"In instances where a paid forward booking has to be cancelled, SANParks will apply a transparent and fair process of LIFO (last-in-first-out) principle implying that the person that booked earlier will receive preference over someone that booked later.”
"The affected guests will be contacted and offered alternative facilities or alternative dates and no guests will be charged cancellation fees if an eventual cancellation occurs and is due to Covid-19 related circumstances," he added.