SA is ready to respond to the coronavirus

The coronavirus impact will only be known long after the global health crisis ends, but this presents opportunities for the tourism sector to diversify.

SA Tourism recently launched a new brand campaign centred on the message “Let’s visit each other and welcome the world”. As the new coronavirus (Covid-19) continues to spread globally, this message may now raise an important question: How do we welcome the world?

There is no doubt that the economic impact of the coronavirus will be felt across most sectors, and tourism is no different.

This outbreak is expected to affect tourism numbers from China and other parts of the world. Travel restrictions and the cancellation of planned visits, flights, and business, political, sports and leisure events are also impacting negatively on many service sectors. This is likely to persist for some time and the true effect may only be accurately calculated much later.

The outbreak is also already impacting negatively on global tourism described by the World Economic Forum as a “huge global business that accounts for 10.4% of global GDP and 10% of global employment”.

Based on the consistent growth of the sector, the UN World Tourism Organisation predicted “growth of 3% to 4% in international tourist arrivals for this year, with international departures worldwide particularly strong in the first quarter of this year”.

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, tourism contributed $8.8 trillion (R140 trillion) to the world economy in 2018. Worldwide, Chinese tourists account for around one-tenth of all visitors.

Looking at the potential of the Chinese market to contribute to South Africa’s national target of attracting 21 million visitor arrivals by 2030, SA Tourism has identified China as a priority market for inbound arrivals. According to estimates by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Chinese outbound tourism will not recover to pre-coronavirus levels until the second quarter of next year, and will cause a global loss of about $80 billion.

The World Travel and Tourism Council estimates that the epidemic could be the biggest drag on global economic growth since the 2008 financial crisis. Airlines are expected to lose $29 billion in revenue this year. This excludes the impact on the other areas of the tourism value chain.

South Africa, with one confirmed case of the virus so far, remains relatively unscathed, despite rising infections in Africa. Meanwhile, to date, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria and Senegal have confirmed positive diagnoses.

In light of this, South Africa needs to ensure that we maintain our robust health systems for the control of infectious diseases. Also needed is greater awareness, combined with coordination and collaborations.

Read: SA confirms first case of the coronavirus

An international team of scientists, in a study published in The Lancet medical journal on the Preparedness and vulnerability of African countries against Covid-19, identified Algeria, Egypt and South Africa as the most likely to import new coronavirus cases into Africa, despite having the best prepared health systems on the continent.

Government is exercising vigilance and implementing a formal, intersectoral plan to ensure our readiness, optimisation of resources and capability to deal with Covid-19.

This includes a network of health facilities, the National Health Laboratory Service which is able to perform diagnostic testing and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases with its highly qualified staff, sophisticated laboratory systems and emergency operations centre.

As a legacy of the Soccer World Cup in 2010, South Africa has a sophisticated screening infrastructure at ports of entry, which has been activated.

Ironically, the international view is that Africa’s knowledge and competence in dealing with outbreaks of the Ebola virus has helped our preparedness. Yet the impact of this disease cannot be underestimated.

With the epicentre of the outbreak in China, it is predicted to significantly disrupt global supply chains, resulting in a dip in the global economic outlook.

Several major global conferences such as the Mobile World Congress and Europe’s largest travel trade show, ITB Berlin, have already been cancelled.

There is talk of the Olympics being put on hold. UN Secretary General António Guterres has also cautioned UN officials about travelling internationally.

As SA Tourism, we too will look at our own global platforms – meetings, incentives, conferences and events – and make important decisions to ensure the wellbeing of our citizens and all visitors.

As one of the largest tourism marketing events on the African calendar and one of the top three “must visit” events on the global calendar, this year’s Africa Travel Indaba (May 12 to 14) will go ahead as planned. We will keep stakeholders updated of any changes.

There is always an opportunity in a crisis. But does the Covid-19 outbreak present opportunities for other markets to up their game in respect of travel and tourism? Will Africa be ready to welcome the world should travellers want to move away from the Far East in the aftermath of the outbreak?

We know tourism contributes to job creation and economic growth but we have to develop the infrastructure, systems and processes to tap into this “huge global business”.

While we may instinctively want to take cover and wait for the crisis to blow over, this may however be just the time to explore collaborations and partnerships for Africa to become a first choice for the global travel and tourism market.

SA Tourism is looking beyond this crisis and is putting in place marketing campaigns and programmes to attract Chinese tourists to the country. We are also assisting tourists with domestic travel operators to finalise cancellations and waivers.

The modifications in business and leisure travel behaviour, in the wake of the global outbreak of the virus, afford us an opportunity to remodel how travel trade shows are delivered.

By leveraging the power of digital technologies, we can deliver meaningful trade experiences for buyers and delegates, and unlock Africa’s opportunity to lead in digital trade show hosting.

Similarly, we can leverage the same digital capability to empower local travel and trade shows and continue to showcase South Africa as a destination, when they are unable to travel to such events.

While a drop in international tourists and outbound travellers is a serious concern, it presents an opportunity for creating sustainable incentives to help boost the domestic market while encouraging South Africans to travel at home and on the continent.

Local travellers will be looking for add-on packages and exclusive experiences that will stretch their rands.

The global impact of Covid-19 will be felt for a long time, and international and domestic cooperation is crucial in times of crisis. SA Tourism is committed to working with all industry stakeholders to prevent, mitigate and respond to the impact of this coronavirus.

• Ntshona is the CEO of SA Tourism

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