Tourism sector opening could save about 600 000 jobs
“We are confident that measures have been put in place to protect employees, suppliers and tourists.”
With businesses in the tourism sector fighting for survival, the Department of Tourism is happy with the opening of the sector under level 3 from 1 June.
Minister of Tourism, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, said at a press briefing on Saturday evening that their projections showed that almost 600 000 jobs were at risk if the sector doesn’t come into operation by September 2020.
“This reality led to both the government and private sector working together to be both innovative and putting protocol guidelines to get the sector back into operation. The past two months have been difficult for the tourism sector. Businesses are fighting for survival.”
Kubayi-Ngubane said the sector is largely interactive and their focus has been to “de-risk” the sector by putting health protocols in place.
“We are confident that measures have been put in place to protect employees, suppliers and tourists.
“When the risk-adjusted approach was introduced tourism was placed at alert level 2 and largely at level 1, this is because our sector is largely interactive hence our focus has been on both de-risking the sector and putting health protocols that can give the comfort of safety not only to the government but to our clients, including domestic tourist,” Kubayi-Ngubane said.
She said a relief fund was announced and this was meant to ensure that SMMEs in the sector survive.
The application window for the fund will close on 31 May 2020.
“The relief provides a once-off capped grant of R50 000 – a subsidy for expenses – not for paying of salaries – because UIF takes care of that,” Kubayi-Ngubane said.
“To date, more than 6 000 completed applications for grant assistance have been received from across the country.”
She said many of the tourism SMMEs have been looking forward to the subsidy.
The department will announce the number of approvals and non-approved applications, and the reasons once the closing date passes.
“We have received feedback from applicants who experienced a number of challenges when they attempted to apply for the fund through our online system. Some had difficulties uploading documents onto the system, some were requested many times to submit documents they had already submitted and some were unable to access the system,” Kubayi-Ngubane said.
She said they have a team working around the clock calling each and every applicant considered eligible with outstanding documents to submit before the end of tomorrow.”
The beneficiaries include tour guides registered with the registrar, those not employed by any companies and those who are freelancing. Many do not even qualify for UIF because they don’t work for a company. The tour guides will also have to adhere to level 3 restrictions including wearing PPE, Kubayi-Ngubane said.
The following services will be opened under level 3 lockdown:
- Restaurants for delivery or collection of food. Restaurants with liquor licences are allowed to sell alcohol only for takeout and delivery. In this area, there’s been an outcry that they must be allowed for onsite consumption.
“We are in discussions with restaurants so that whatever solution is provided in this regard for sit-down meals doesn’t perpetuate the inequality. We are confident that in our next submission to NCCC this will be considered.”
- Professional services, including training of nature guides and other related services, are allowed but must be able to ensure safe distances.
- Public and private game farms have been opened for self-drive excursions.
- Hiking to be done in compliance with existing guidelines and not in groups.
- Accommodation activities are allowed, except for leisure. Establishments will no longer require a letter from the tourism minister to operate. They are required to ensure that they accommodate those in the permitted services and keep records for inspections by the department.
- Hunting and gaming activities are also allowed.
The following services are not permitted during level 3 lockdown:
- Conferences, events, entertainment activities (such as festivals) are still not permitted. It must be noted that some of the conference venues have been used in the fight against the pandemic and as such are allowed to be operational, including being used for distribution points of social relief measures.
Kubayi-Ngubane welcomed the opening of domestic commercial flights and said the tourism sector will benefit immensely.
“Our sector still has an opportunity to open more sub-sectors in level 3. We believe the sector will recover and grow beyond the levels it was at before the crisis.
“We want to ensure the recovery of the sector is inclusive. Although we will gradually re-open, we expect the sector will only fully recover by the end of this year.”
Kubayi-Ngubane said the department is doing all in its power to cushion the sector and mitigate against any potential job losses.
“Government also appreciates the support from the sector in making available some of their facilities for use as quarantine sites and the commitment to do more.”
She said all the major players in the tourism sector, including product owners and tourism association, are encouraged to continue to engage to develop a response that is “measured and consistent, proportionate to the public health threat and based on local risk assessment, involving every part of the tourism value chain”.
“We remain committed to working hard to rebuild our tourism sector. We remain tourism strong,” Kubayi-Ngubane concluded.
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