Will government open its purse to aid the battered tourism sector?

The glory days when South Africa was one of the preferred destinations for many travellers from around the world all but dissipated with the outbreak of the coronavirus.

However, thanks to the sobering announcement this week that saw the easing of the debilitating Covid curbs, there’s now light at the end of the tunnel for the tourism and hospitality industry.

Generally considered the “hardest-hit” sector, directly affected by the lockdowns introduced globally to mitigate the impact of this mysterious virus, the industry can heave a sigh of relief as the country is now open for tourism. While the news is without a doubt exciting, here’s the rub: economists are calling on the government for major financial assistance to rebuild the country’s brand as a top tourism destination.

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Statistics SA data shows that about 41. 9 million travellers were recorded in 2019 (before the first South African tested positive for Covid on 1 March, 2020), which was a massive 126.1% increase, compared to the 18.5 million tourists who graced our shores 15 years earlier, in 2005.

This clearly illustrates the sector’s consistent upward trajectory, which translated into much-needed jobs and equally desired contributions to the fiscus. The 3.1% of the country’s gross domestic product made up of foreign tourism spending in 2019 – that is an injection of R136 billion to the purse – is proof enough the sector needs international visitors to recover and reach its pre-pandemic level.

In fact, before the Covid outbreak, government had pinned significant hopes on the tourism and hospitality industry, with President Cyril Ramaphosa announcing during his 2019 State of the Nation Address a target of 21 million visitors by 2030.

Whether the government will open its purse – and help the sector back on its feet – remains to be seen.