TOURISM Month is celebrated annually in September and provides a heightened month-long focus on the importance of the sector to the South African economy.
The month often features themed activities that are aligned to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation’s (UNWTO) World Tourism Day Celebrations that take place annually on 27 September.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic introduced an unprecedented crisis to the global economy. Tourism was one of the first economic sectors to be deeply impacted by the pandemic with measures to contain its spread, including restrictions on movement. Operations were halted under various phases of lockdown and tourism revenues were severely diminished. The sector, particularly smaller-scale tourism organisations, thus face profound challenges in picking up the pieces. Sodurba Tourism Community Tourism Organisation (CTO) shared that the biggest challenge has been getting new members to join the organisation in unprecedented times.
“Due to the Covid-19, the recent civil unrest, and the concern for the safety of our interns, we decided to close our office again, for the time being. As soon as the situation has changed will we reconsider,” said Sodurba chairperson, Helga du Preez.
Asked whether there were any plans to stimulate domestic demand through targeted initiatives and campaigns, Helga shared that this has been an ongoing process in collaboration with Durban Tourism.
“The most recent initiative is the #Jab4Tourism. While we support freedom of choice, we have to show our travellers that South Africa is travel ready and that we take their safety as well as our staff’s safety seriously. We are also still in discussions regarding promoting Heritage Month.”
The organisation did receive some relief earlier this year when the city increased funding towards CTOs in eThekwini. “It definitely made a huge difference and we were able to focus all our efforts on tourism recovery with an extensive marketing strategy. This process is still ongoing. We are also in the process of updating our website with exciting new features.
“Although it has been very difficult times for all we have to mention our sponsors Fabricon and Euro Steel who sponsored and built our new whale structure, “Infinity”, which was showcased at our Welcoming of the Whales Festival this year.”
Reflecting on a challenging two-year period, Helga said, “Our ideal vision is to have the tourism industry completely open, no more lockdown regulations, no more closed borders etc. We are all ready for travellers, we are open for business and all our members are Covid-19 compliant and can offer safe accommodation.”
