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Tourism Educators South Africa weigh in on events restrictions Before the pandemic, the events fraternity notably played an immense role in terms of resuscitating the struggling economy of South Africa. It has been more than eighteen months since the first case of the Covid-19 pandemic was recorded in South Africa. By members from Tourism Educators South Africa (TESA).
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wing to the devastating effect of Covid-19 on the tourism and travel industry, the events industry has been impacted by a subsequent indefinite postponement, impacting many small economies. What began as a fictional horror movie became a living, daily reality for every event stakeholder to be confronted with. The initial cancellations of noble events such as the Standard Bank National Annual Arts Festival; the Annual Cape Town Jazz International Festival (previously known as the North Sea Jazz Festival); and Tourism Indaba amongst others, were tolerated as the country prepared for the management of the pandemic. However, the continued restrictions prohibiting the hosting of events are crippling the cultural and creative industries, especially as South Africa is home to over 600 festivals annually, contributing significantly to local
and provincial economies and influencing communities’ social aspects. Furthermore, inconstant and uncertain clauses have been published in the frequently updated Disaster Management Act (DME). Regulations have prohibited many businesses to operate, resulting in the liquidation of suppliers across the entire tourism value chain, and massive job losses. Hence, the impact on various role-players who benefit from events is, to some extent, immeasurable. Indeed, we can quantify the economic impact by investigating loss in revenue, the impact of event cancellations, and the furlough or even the retrenchment of staff (either seasonal, temporary, or permanent) and pay cuts. However, it is the intangible impact that we are ill-equipped to measure. For example, with the cancellation of events, not only have artists lost their jobs, but towns have also
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lost a significant amount of their gross domestic product (GDP) too. The financial losses will also continue to negatively impact tertiary institutions and research entities as festivals and events will be unable to budget for research in future. For them, the focus now is on survival. The ripple effect of the continued restrictions is, therefore, unparalleled and may take years to recover. The pandemic had and is continuing to have a detrimental influence on our teaching and research activities. Adjustments in teaching and learning Lockdown restrictions have forced Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) to move away from ‘business as usual’. For instance, being an Academic in a ruralbased institution had its challenges. Most of the students were lamenting about www.businesseventsafrica.com
