I have been in the travel industry for 19 years, starting out as a junior consultant in 2001.
When you have been in travel as long as I have, you have had to weather a fair amount of storms. Some of these include the devastation of September 11, the harrowing tsunami that hit Thailand, the Eyjafjallajökull Volcano eruptions and subsequent disruptions in Europe in 2010, not to mention countless other incidents.
Since the announcement of the 21-day government-imposed lockdown, travel and tourism have come to a standstill. We were advised of the many funding options made available and were excited that government had put provisions in place. Trying to be prepared for what could be a lengthy lockdown, the minute the SMME Fund opened I submitted my application and I proceeded to do the same thing when the Tourism Fund opened.
Let me just say I received no further communication from the Tourism Fund, and good luck trying to get through to anyone. The SMME Fund I had more hope for; I was given my reference and a number of weeks after submitting I received a text to say I had gotten through to the next round of checks. Unfortunately two days after receiving this notification I received another one to say that they had either misplaced my documentation or I had never sent it. I can guarantee you it was the former. Regardless I resent through all the supporting documents. A few days after this I received another notification to say, unfortunately, the fund was depleted.
I approached both my personal and business bank to see if I could benefit from any of their relief options; however, as I am the owner and only employee of the company I did not qualify. I also applied for UIF TERS. My accountant has submitted for three months, and to date I have only received one payment with a further two in progress, and a fourth to be submitted when the link eventually opens.As it is now 6 August the personal overdraft we took out to survive this time is coming to an end. We therefore approached the holders of our bond to access a further advance on our bond so that we could survive until January when international travel is ‘expected’ to resume. This has now been declined because as we did not receive all the TERS payments, we did not meet the criteria, meaning due to problems with TERS delays I can now not get financing through my only last resort.
The whole reason we were applying for this further advance was so that it could be used to pay expenses over the next few months and so we could support our family and survive. Getting a loan through my bank is also not an option as travel is considered a high-risk industry, again due to government-imposed bans and restrictions.
The travel and tourism industry has been sacrificed at the altar of government indecision. We have a tourism minister who does not understand the workings of the tourism industry. There has been a total lack of communication which has in fact done more harm than good to an industry that is already in absolute distress. In our wonderful country, a government official made a public statement saying that travel agents must not profiteer out of this crisis. What an absolute cheek!
Preventing people from earning a living to support their families goes against human rights. Job losses are rising, desperation levels are at an all-time high, and crime is increasing due to this. When is enough, enough! It is time to open up all travel so that people can survive.
