As South Africans eagerly awaits the national address from President Cyril Ramaphosa on whether the country will move to level 2 lockdown, roleplayers in the local tourism industry have voiced their concerns.
One such person is Enver Duminy, CEO of Cape Town Tourism. For months, the tourism industry has been lobbying for the government to open up tourism to prevent the closure of businesses and job losses in the sector.
Under advanced level 3, intra-provincial travel is now allowed. But for the industry to become once again sustainable, more needs to be done.
“I believe that tourism, both domestically and regionally, should open as soon as possible,” said Duminy.
“We would recommend and urge Cyril Ramaphosa and government to open up tourism to allow us to start reigniting and saving as many jobs as still possible,” he added.
Alderman James Vos, the City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management, reiterated Duminy’s recommendation.
“Over the last few weeks I have engaged extensively through site visits, webinars, calls and emails with stakeholders across the spectrum in the tourism and related industries. From these engagements, it is clear that we must act now to end the devastating lockdown before it is too late,” urged Vos.
Vos added as a reminder that the Western Cape has passed the height of the Covid-19 infection rate. “It is time to end the lockdown so that we can provide a lifeline for the remaining tourism businesses, now and not later," he added.
Cape Town tourism and related industries such as food, beverages and hospitality are heavily reliant on domestic tourism, something that Duminy is all too aware of.
Minister of Tourism Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane told Parliament in July that an estimated R54.2-billion in output may already have been lost between mid-March and the end of May this year.
The sector currently faces a potential 75 percent revenue reduction in 2020, with 438 000 jobs at risk.
“What we would like to ask, based on the risk-adjusted strategy from government and the fact that we are seeing a decline [in infections], that we need to start seriously open up the economy. We also urge government to invest more into the tourism space so that we can recover a lot sooner,” Duminy concluded.