“Our domestic tourists were the driving force behind our tourism and hospitality businesses over December, but we are equally grateful to those inbound international visitors who were undeterred by Omicron media reports and travel restrictions and chose to travel anyway.”

South Africa’s travel and tourism sector seemed to be on the road to recovery towards the end of last year, until the discovery of the Omicron variant set it back substantially, the results of which are expected to be felt until March.

Despite this, the TBCSA is encouraged at the pace with which the tourism business is improving. “This is a testament not only to the resilience of the industry which has largely borne the brunt of changing travel regulations globally, but indeed travel in general, as pent-up demand from our source markets means travellers are choosing to plan, book and travel within very short lead times,” Tshivhengwa says.

South Africa has a small window of opportunity to position itself as a favourable destination as other long-haul competitor destinations remain closed, he says.

“Our focus must be on delivering ease of travel for our inbound international visitors and returning South Africans and this includes the removal of the requirement for PCR tests for fully vaccinated passengers travelling to or visiting South Africa. It is an impediment to travel because it is expensive and, in some cases, difficult for our travellers to obtain.”

Courtesy of IOL – read full article here.