IT'LL TAKE A WHILE FOR SA TOURISM TO RECOVER FROM LOCKDOWN – KUBAYI-NGUBANE…

IT'LL TAKE A WHILE FOR SA TOURISM TO RECOVER FROM LOCKDOWN – KUBAYI-NGUBANE

About 1.5 million people employed in the sector had to stay home for over four months when the country’s lockdown regulations halted the movement of people.

Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said that it would take a while before the South African tourism industry recovered from the impact of the lockdown.

About 1.5 million people employed in the sector had to stay home for over four months when the country’s lockdown regulations halted the movement of people.

One step at a time. That is the message from the Tourism minister and Tourism SA, which activated the travel season following the lockdown downgrade to level two.

Minister Kubayi-Ngubane explains: "When you listen to the issues of cost implications, you listen to just issues of the people returning, the change of mindset, the training that has to go in, it's a whole lot of things for a sector."

Tourism SA’s CEO Sisa Ntshona said that budgetary constraints were a major challenge.

"Now that things are opening up again, it's about coming back on-stream, however, we have to do things differently, we have to work smarter, we have to do more with less."

The industry is already counting its losses which amount to billions of rand and will impact the country’s overall financial performance.
[Theto Mahlakoana – EWN]

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