Housebound families can't wait to get away to the bush and beach

From Cape Town to the Kruger National Park, South African holidaymakers are satisfying their wanderlust by locking down local vacations after more than four months of being confined to their home provinces.

President Cyril Ramaphosa last weekend announced the easing of restrictions for interprovincial travel and the reopening of the hospitality sector - and airlines and travel agents were flooded with bookings.

But South African Tourism CEO Sisa Ntshona warned that high-end hotels and resorts that cater almost exclusively for foreign visitors have to rethink their strategy.

"They now sit with a choice: either to modify their offering and tailor it for the local environment, or they wait for the borders to open - and we don't know when that will be," he said.

Charles Preece, for the Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa, said some hotels, especially in the Western Cape, have marketed themselves largely to overseas travellers.

"We may see many places staying closed until demand dictates they open, and we will know in December what the real impact of the pandemic will be," he said.

"If these establishments want to make themselves accessible for domestic tourism, they will have to lower their prices."

Meanwhile, Cape Town engineer Alex Bentley said he and friends had booked a stay at a lodge that borders the Kruger Park for November, a jaunt that will go a long way to maintaining his sanity.

"We have been cooped up for so long now. I can't tell you how excited I am to have a couple of days in the bush."

The 37-year-old said a trip to the game park was an annual ritual usually scheduled for April.

"With the lockdown, that didn't happen, but now we have the chance to go. We'll fly from Cape Town to Nelspruit and then shuttle our way to the park," he said.

Fear of the Covid-19 pandemic, Bentley said, is ever-present, but has been outweighed by the chance to holiday.

South African National Parks spokesperson Rey Thakhuli said an increased demand for bookings had caused its website to crash at the weekend.

FlySafair spokesperson Kirby Gordon said Ramaphosa's announcement had drawn an immediate interest in local flights.

"As of tomorrow we're looking to pump up to about 42 flights a day, which is about double what we have available at the moment. That means we'll be operating at about 50% of what we are capable of doing."

According to sales data since the announcement, Joburgers are desperate to get to Cape Town. "Joburg to Durban is the next most popular route and, interestingly, Joburg to Port Elizabeth outperformed the Cape Town to Durban route," he said.

Andrew Stark of Flight Centre said it has recorded more than 100,000 online visits to its local holiday packages, with trips to Cape Town emerging as the frontrunner, followed by Durban and then George.

Stark attributed the spike in interest to the low pricing of flights and accommodation, an effort to revive the industry.

"Demand will plateau as pricing creeps up," he said.

Nasham Chan, who works in marketing in Durban, said he and his wife booked their holidays in the wake of Ramaphosa's announcement. 

"We're going to Phinda next month and in October to Leopard Mountain. We usually travel quite a bit and we have been locked up with the kids with their home schooling, and working from home has been stressful. We just need to decompress."

Michael Nel, MD of Red Carnation Hotels, said they had seen a 30% increase in bookings after the announcement.

He said their Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve in Cape Town, and the Oyster Box Hotel in Durban, had been the destinations in demand.

"Bushmans Kloof because they are out of the city and away from the masses, and the Oyster Box too, as most of the bookings have been from Johannesburg with people in search of better weather," he said.

ANEW hotels and resorts group CEO Clinton Armour said bookings followed a trend of people trying to get some peace and quiet outside of major cities.

"From what we have seen, local leisure travel is ready to start. As soon as the restrictions on leisure travel were lowered, our outlying properties were sitting at the maximum capacity allowed."

Sun International hospitality chief operating officer Graham Wood said interest in the Sun City resort and Wild Coast Sun has been notable.

Amber Keating, an occupational therapist from Johannesburg, said she had grabbed the opportunity to visit family in Durban.

"It's my mom's birthday today and I also couldn't wait to see my dogs," she said.

"The lockdown restrictions have had a negative impact on my mental wellbeing because I couldn't see my family and couldn't socialise and now this all feels like life is going back to normal."