A LOCAL PERSPECTIVE
Tourism 101 needed to recover from Covid-19 blitzkrieg For South Africa to rebuild its tourism industry amidst the ravaging effects of Covid-19, it will need a ‘tourism for dummies’ approach — ensure the safety of tourists, have a coherent strategy and create an enabling business environment. In other words, let’s get back to basics.
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By Hamza Farooqui, Founder and CEO of Millat Investments.
here are three things that South Africa’s tourism has going for itself: year-round mild climate, welcoming people and authentic cultural diversity. But there are three things that go against it: an absence of safety, a lack of coherence between all tourism role-players and the unwillingness to be open for business on a global scale. All these cracks need to be addressed if we are to rebuild tourism. It really comes down to government getting the basics right first. It needs to create an environment in which tourism businesses, particularly global brands, may thrive. Make South Africa safe for tourists I hail from an immigrant family who came to these shores seeking a better future. Over the years we have seen the country evolve from the euphoria of 1994 to the urgent need for constructive economic growth. As a family, we are deeply committed to playing our part. In many respects, it probably has to do with our history as immigrants, who have fire in their bellies to bring about change and make an impact on their adopted home. However, spurts of xenophobic attacks
over the last decade, and not forgetting the recent riots, have made South Africa a destination to avoid. Racism is still embedded in our structures. All these issues have made us insular, effectively cutting us off from the global tourism ecosystem. We do not even consider Africans coming into our country as inbound tourists, yet they made up nearly 80 per cent of our foreign arrivals before and during the Covid-19 era. In addition, the vaccination rollout, while steady, has been achingly slow. Until then, just 17-million vaccinations had been administered since the rollout began in February this year. As a result, the UK had placed South Africa on the red list for travel meaning that British tourists – wishing to visit South Africa – had to undergo ten days of quarantine when they returned to their home country. It made South Africa an unattractive destination. Estimates put the loss of revenue at R26-million per day. Our traditional major source markets, Germany and the US, have only made travel to and from South Africa easier as of September. But we cannot continue complaining and waiting for the UK to open. We need to act and look for
24 Business Events Africa October 2021
alternate markets. We have the ability to attract tourists from countries in the Middle East, China and India – all of which have a growing middle and upper class that is hungry to travel and consume our authentic offerings. We just need to begin focusing on bringing them here. In fact, the UK and Europe have been key beneficiaries of the Middle East for years – we may take a page from that playbook and apply it to our strategy. But we chose not to because we continue to stick to what is familiar and comfortable. Such self-made problems may be rectified through political will. The forthcoming new age of tourism will not be kind to countries that have lacklustre safety policies. Conscious travellers will be looking for destinations that are crime free, familyfriendly, politically stable and adherent to Covid-19 regulations. A need for a coherent strategy Considering the Coronavirus’ decimation of tourism, the South African government drew up a sectoral recovery plan to recuperate the industry to pre-Covid levels. But the plan fails to mention a coherent public-private strategy. www.businesseventsafrica.com
