LTA: Tourism to be ‘seriously disrupted’ if travel ban is not lifted
Limpopo Tourism Agency acting CEO Moses Ngobeni has expressed his concern over the already 'ailing' economy and tourism sector after SA was placed on the red list following detection of the Covid-19 Omicron variant.
LIMPOPO – Limpopo Tourism Agency (LTA) has expressed its concern about what they called a ‘rushed decision’ made by various international destinations to put South Africa back on the red list, following the detection of the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus inside SA borders.
President Cyril Ramaphosa in his address to the nation on Sunday explained that cases of the Omicron variant have been identified in Botswana, South Africa, Hong Kong, Australia, Belgium, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Denmark and Israel.
As a result, countries such as Germany, Malaysia, Seychelles, Japan, European Union States, US, Australia, Egypt and Rwanda have barred travel and flights to and from South Africa.
Read more: Flights to UK will resume on Wednesday but SA remains on red list
Other countries from the SADC region that have also been placed on the red list are Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
LTA media liaison officer Kgatla Ntlhekeng says the agency believes the decision made by the UK will cause serious disruptions to the already ailing economy of the province and SA as a whole.
Acting LTA CEO Moses Ngobeni said: “What worries us even more is that this has a direct bearing on the economy as flights and accommodation of many prospective visitors to the province have been cancelled. We are confident that our government will engage with these countries to have this impasse resolved so that travel is made possible to sustain our already ailing economy. This will also save several jobs in the tourism sector, which was hard hit by the pandemic. Most of our tourism facilities in the province already had bookings from the some of these countries and this decision will undoubtedly scare other visitors away”.
LTA will, however, continue their efforts to resuscitate the economy and in so doing grow domestic tourism through their Summer Campaign drive.
Sapa Yopa annual rally
The Sapa Yopa 2021 rally will take place at Meropa Casino and Entertainment World in Polokwane on Saturday (December 4) and Ngobeni said bikers will descend the province from all parts of the country and beyond the borders.
He added that the annual rally will boost the economy while growing tourism in the province.
Sunshine Tour
“LTA will also send an activation team to North West Province, Sun City, at Gary Player Country Club from December 2-5 for the SA Open Championship.”
Ngobeni explained that LTA has partnered with the Sunshine Tour for this event and will use this as an opportunity to create awareness about destination Limpopo and what it has on offer to the golfers and non-golfers attending the event.
“We are confident that this will boost the numbers of domestic trips to our province,” he concluded.
