A fear of impending widespread job losses has grippled South Africa’s hospitality industry as the government currently mulls the tightening of lockdown restrictions this festive season, due to rising Covid-19 infections.
A study conducted by the Bureau for Economic Research (BER) has shown that emergence of the more transmissible Omicron coronavirus variant has significantly hit business sentiment.
The BER yesterday said a snap poll early this month indicated that confidence in the hospitality sector more than halved due to international travel bans and the onset of the Covid-19 fourth wave.
Major source markets for foreign tourists to South Africa have implemented travel restrictions, after local scientists successfully sequenced the Omicron variant last month.
After the announcement, the tourism industry lost more than R1-billion bookings for travel between December and March 2022 overnight.
As a result, the BER said confidence in the hospitality industry dropped from 58 points to 25 points during the first week of December.
BER deputy director George Kershoff said the travel bans and the fourth wave had dealt the industry a heavy blow after surviving 20 months of almost no travel.
“The international travel bans and the rapid rise in new Covid-19 infections could not have come at a more inopportune time for the hospitality industry,” said Kershoff.
