Question NW923 to the Minister of Tourism

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23 April 2021 - NW923

Profile picture: De Freitas, Mr MS

De Freitas, Mr MS to ask the Minister of Tourism

How (a)(i) has the domestic tourism industry adhered to the implementation of the COVID-19 Tourism Safety Protocols since the opening of domestic tourism under Alert Level 2 and (ii) was this (aa) ascertained and (bb) measured and (b)(i) has the domestic market improved and/or picked up since the announcement of the relaxation of travel restrictions under Alert Level 2 and (ii) was this (aa) ascertained and (bb) measured?

Reply:

(a) (i) Department of Tourism working together with the private sector have been pro-active in establishing Directions and Protocols respectively as measures to reduce transmission risk across all sub-sectors. The Covid-19 protocols are rolled out by the sector under a self-regulatory framework in conjunction with the government’s Risk-Adjusted Strategy. The domestic tourism industry was not excluded to the efforts of law enforcement authorities to enforce adherence to the measures put in place by government to limit the spread of the virus. Law enforcement agencies has raised concerns of some establishments who were found to be none- complaince, this were mainly by some restaurant and this was raised with the sector.

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(ii) (aa) and (bb) No survey was done on this matter. However feedback received from the industry points to majority of the sector being in compliance. Furthermore, observations made during visits to establishments show that industry is ready with compliance to the protocols and safe operations.

(b) (i) There has been some form of recovery in the domestic sector although it is still below the pre-COVID-19 levels. Since the Risk adjusted strategy was implemented in March 2020 there has been a steady improvement/ progress from Level 5 to Level 1. Following the easing of lockdown to level 3 in June 2020, domestic tourism started picking up from August 2020 resulting in the performance at different levels of lockdown depicted in the table below.

Month

COVID 19 Level

Trips

August 2020

L2

2,465,260

September 2020

L1

2,236,371

October 2020

L1

2,266,853

November 2020

L1

1,174,491

December 2020

L1 and adjusted L3

1,358,772

(ii) (aa) and (bb) SA Tourism conducts monthly surveys that track travel patterns and behaviour of South Africans within the country.