With relaxed Covid-19 restrictions, KwaZulu-Natal’s hospitality sector is betting on a travel boom as the Easter holidays loom.
Tourism KwaZulu-Natal (TKZN) has embarked on an aggressive drive to promote rebuilding the sector in the aftermath of the second wave by showcasing the north and south coasts, as well as popular inland spots to bolster domestic travel.
According to the body’s tourism performance report, December hotel occupancy rates were among the highest in the country and the best since February last year.
The report shows there was “a welcoming climb every month after July last year, until figures topped 51,90% occupancy in December, second only to the North West region, which had also shot up to 59,70%".
“The region’s tourism sector was devastated by the Covid-19 lockdown regulations. The pandemic and subsequent restrictions have hit the hospitality industry hard over the months and there have been spiralling losses in income, jobs and businesses.
“In the wake of the relaxed Covid-19 regulations, the industry is betting on a boom in the travel sector. In the past two weeks, the entity has focused on the north coast, Midlands and on game reserves, where social distancing and strict health regulations are being successfully implemented,” said TKZN.
The Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (Fedhasa) in the province believes the sector is experiencing a “mixed bag” of recovery.
Brett Tungay, Fedhasa east coast chair, told Sunday Times Daily that establishments catering for the domestic market have seen “good recovery”.
Hopefully with the move to level one, we might see more in the way of business travel.
— Brett Tungay, Fedhasa
“They are not back to pre-Covid levels, but definitely most of them are showing at least about 70 to 80% of pre-Covid turnover on the domestic market.
“In terms of properties catering for the foreign market, they are still way down. A lot of them are trying to cater for the domestic market to try to get some volume through.”
Tungay said establishments specialising in business travel have taken a hard knock.
“Hopefully, with the move to level one, we might see more in the way of business travel.
“In terms of foreign travel, we don’t know how long it’s going to take for people to get confidence to travel.
“I think a lot of people are worried about having to do a PCR test and the consequences of having a failed test if you have already paid for your tickets to fly.”
Tala Collection Game Reserve, near Pietermaritzburg, is gradually recovering, thanks to domestic tourists.
“Like other tourism businesses, the Covid-19 restrictions have hit Tala hard. A big part of Tala’s business had been welcoming international guests, as well as hosting weddings, conferences and year-end functions, and that all stopped.
“But slowly the tourism sector is recovering,” said Greg Allan, general manager of the reserve.
“There is no question that local people are coming out to us.
“One thing that was fantastic was when we went into full lockdown and the president (Cyril Ramaphosa) announced we were moving to level three and visits to game parks could go ahead and no-one could go to the beach.
“That meant they could come to Tala and that helped us massively. I think we would have closed if it had not been for that.”
However, Allan said the venue had no choice but to retrench 31 staff members, mainly from surrounding communities.
“The reserve is 51% owned by the local community — the Nkumbuleni Trust — and the National Empowerment Fund, and 49%, since 2017, is owned by Dream Hotels.
“The profits are being ploughed back into Tala and being used to refurnish the property and ensure maintenance takes place to ensure the venue meets hospitality standards.”
Nelisiwe Khanyile, a community representative of Nkumbuleni and Tala’s housekeeping manager, said it is imperative to ensure tourism is stimulated again.
“Our community depends on tourism jobs. Tala, for a long time, was our lifeline. If hotels are full again, many households will be able to thrive,” said Khanyile.
