South Africans can stimulate the country’s tourism industry by travelling locally
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When the United Kingdom updated its international travel rules at the top of this week, South Africa remained on the red list despite intensified vaccination efforts on the part of government. This development has caused quite the stir in South Africa with many lamenting that this is going to hurt the country’s tourism sector during the warmer months of 2021. Now a placement on the UK’s red list means that if a traveller has been to South Africa in the last 10 days, they will only be allowed to enter the UK if they are a British or Irish national, or if they have residence rights in the UK.
Concerns are that this situation will deter UK citizens from travelling to the country because of these cumbersome processes. However the General Manager of King Shaka International Airport responsible for Client and Passenger Services, Azwifaneli Mphaphuli, tells the OFM News that it is in fact domestic tourism that can help stimulate this sector again. Mphaphuli says the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) has introduced several safety related measures at all its airports to ensure that travellers are safe when journeying to their next destination. Mphaphuli’s comments help shift the conversation away from the UK to how can South Africans help the tourism industry come alive again as we edge closer to the festive season.
According to figures released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) in April 2021 foreign arrivals into South Africa dropped by 71% from just over 15,8million in 2019 to less than 5 million in 2020. The overall number of travellers decreased by 50,7% over a 15-year period from nearly 24,6 million recorded in 2006 to 12,1 million travellers recorded in 2020. An indication that the tourism industry is still limping. Mphaphuli on the other end believes the tide is changing and SA will recover.
Concerns are that this situation will deter UK citizens from travelling to the country because of these cumbersome processes. However the General Manager of King Shaka International Airport responsible for Client and Passenger Services, Azwifaneli Mphaphuli, tells the OFM News that it is in fact domestic tourism that can help stimulate this sector again. Mphaphuli says the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) has introduced several safety related measures at all its airports to ensure that travellers are safe when journeying to their next destination. Mphaphuli’s comments help shift the conversation away from the UK to how can South Africans help the tourism industry come alive again as we edge closer to the festive season.
According to figures released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) in April 2021 foreign arrivals into South Africa dropped by 71% from just over 15,8million in 2019 to less than 5 million in 2020. The overall number of travellers decreased by 50,7% over a 15-year period from nearly 24,6 million recorded in 2006 to 12,1 million travellers recorded in 2020. An indication that the tourism industry is still limping. Mphaphuli on the other end believes the tide is changing and SA will recover.
