Season comes to abrupt end

Writer De Waal Steyn

It seems that Covid-19 and not the Grinch stole Christmas this year, and for good measure New Year’s as well.

With the festive season over and done with, businesses across the Cape Whale Coast are taking stock of the impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had on them.

According to Cape Whale Coast Tourism Manager Frieda Lloyd, this has been the most difficult season ever for especially the tourism industry. “The many variables that businesses had to contend with, ranging from a sudden increase in infections to stricter lockdown regulations, made planning almost impossible.”

The much-anticipated bumper season due to the extended school holidays turned into a scramble for survival for businesses, especially after the stricter regulations came into effect on 28 December.

“At the beginning of December, we saw thousands of visitors coming into our towns and we all readied ourselves to make this a memorable holiday for visitors despite the pandemic. But as the infection rates started to climb, we saw a shift in the market as fewer people were willing to travel and visitor numbers started to decline. The biggest impact came with the stricter regulations when we saw visitors cutting their holidays short and returning home. We also had large numbers of cancellations during this time,” Lloyd said.

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