CONTRACTS
THE FINE PRINT The detection of the Omicron variant in South Africa resulted in an almost overnight shutdown of South Africa’s outbound industry and a potential fresh wave of cancellations. Meetings hears from the business events and tourism industry on how companies are managing these ups and downs.
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rom postponements to outright cancellations, the difficulties of working during the Covid-19 pandemic have meant that the terms and conditions of already-signed contracts and agreements are being scrutinised more closely now than ever before. New contracts are being drawn up with painstaking attention to detail because nobody can afford a costly oversight or loophole that leaves one or all parties high and dry. On 14 December 2021 – shortly after the announcement of the Omicron variant’s discovery – SITE Africa, together with the SA Events Council, hosted a two-hour webinar to unpack just some of the issues experienced by the business events and tourism industry as it negotiates and navigates the terms and conditions of its contracts. The webinar was comprised of a panel of industry stalwarts and experts who discussed how we can find a way CLICK HERE
through some of the more difficult aspects of contracts and the Ts & Cs that apply.
EXTENSIVE AND FAR-REACHING IMPACT Tes Proos, founder of Crystal Events and president of SITE Africa, led the discussion during the webinar. She was joined by several association heads, including Glenton de Kock, CEO of the Southern African Association for the Conference Industry (SAACI); Jillian Blackbeard, who heads up Africa’s Eden; and Otto de Vries, CEO of the Association of Southern African Travel Agents (ASATA), among others. “This is probably the worst-case scenario of what we could have hoped for. The outbound industry was looking forward to one of its best Decembers in many a year, even prior to 2019. Unfortunately, the industry found itself in a position where, in 48 hours, this had pretty much collapsed, with all of our primary
destinations shutting down,” said Otto. He also noted that a number of European ambassadors he met with commented that they had never seen such a well-coordinated shutdown after the announcement of the Omicron variant. Borders were immediately shut after the news came to light, with numerous airlines already scaling back capacities. “Unless this ban is lifted very quickly, we are going to find ourselves in a dire situation,” emphasised Otto. Unfortunately, the lifting of the EU’s travel bans on Southern African nations came too little too late to benefit from the busy December period, with bans falling away only in the second week of January. Similarly, Mauritius lifted its travel ban against these countries in early January. The financial impact of the bans was immediately felt; Africa’s Eden surveyed 60 of its member companies and calculated that in the first week of the various bans being implemented, they had already lost a collective US$135 000 (R2.1 million) as a result of cancelled bookings.
If you would like to watch the full webinar on demand, click here.
26 • MEETINGS l JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022 www.theplanner.guru
