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Western Cape Prime Minister Alan Winde has welcomed the country’s move to a level 1 blockade and the opening of the country’s borders to international ones from 1 October.
Winde said his provincial government is “eagerly” awaiting more details on this, including the list of countries authorized to travel to South Africa. “We also need to know what data will be used to determine this list and how often it will be updated,” he said.
“The tourism sector in this country and this province supports hundreds of thousands of jobs and has been seriously affected by the closure.
“What you need most now is consistency and certainty. Passengers wishing to book vacations in South Africa should be able to do so with the confidence that their flight will not be canceled on short notice. “
Winde said Wesgro and the Air Access team have been working on a detailed recovery plan on how it will help during and after international flights resume.
“Most of the airlines that were previously active in our market have Cape Town on their schedules for the IATA winter (our summer) beginning on October 24,” he said.
“Therefore, we anticipate a gradual return, with some flights resuming on October 1, others on October 24, and others planning to resume in December to allow time for reservations. A realistic expectation is that airlines will initially fly with less capacity and less frequently. ”
Speaking on domestic travel, Winde said the province has seen a return in confidence with load factors increasing from 59% in June to 87% in September. The reopening of air travel also has a positive impact on air cargo movement, he said.
“The Western Cape’s peak export season is between September and March, while the peak for imports is in October and November. Therefore, the resumption of flights in October will still allow us to take advantage of some of the peak import and export periods.
“Our most recent estimates indicate that the blockade period has created 162,000 jobs in the province, of which approximately 77,000 are in the tourism and hospitality sector.”
Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, Executive Director of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa, said Reuters that many will appear on the list of countries that will be allowed to travel to and from the country.
“If we don’t allow (people from) certain countries to travel (here) there has to be an adequate scientific and statistical model and explanation. This can turn into a public relations nightmare, ”Tshivhengwa said.
David Maynier, the Western Cape provincial finance minister, echoed these concerns, saying “the devil is in the details” and that upcoming regulations will play an important role in the recovery of tourism.
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