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Years before SA`s tourism industry will recover

Source: Tourism Update, 29/10/2015

While concessions have been made to South Africa`s stringent
immigration requirements, it will take time to regain travellers`
trust.

It could take years for South Africa to recover from the damage caused
by the immigration regulations, members of the trade have warned. They
say that even though the government has announced it will relax the
requirements, it will take time to regain travellers` trust.

Martin Wiest, CEO of Tourvest Destination Management, says it will
take at least 18 months for the tourism industry to recover, with very
little the industry can do to speed up the process.

Other members of the trade also warn of a slow recovery, with
Mmatšatši Ramawela, CEO of the Tourism Business Council of South
Africa suggesting it could take anything from 12 months to three years
and Lee-Anne Bac, Director of Grant Thornton Johannesburg, warning it
could take years. Bac says South Africa`s tourism has always been on a
growth path, but for the first time in 20 years the country saw a
continued decline in tourism numbers. "We are expecting that at the
end of this year we will be 500 000 tourists behind due to the visa
regulations," she says.

The key to recovery will be clear communication and collaborative
marketing. We need to tell the world that we are fixing our issues and
are back in business, says David Frost, CEO of SATSA. He says it will
take time for the damage to be repaired but that this can be done
through joint initiative between the private and public tourism
sectors in South Africa.

Bill Harrop, Owner of Bill Harrop's original Balloon Safaris, says the
industry must work together in a unified manner and invest a larger
than usual amount of time and money to enable a clear, simple,
unambiguous, well executed response. The quicker this is done, the
better chance of reversing the damage sustained in the least possible
time. "We cannot change the past. Let us focus on the goal and commit
to working together for the future."

According to Ramawela, it`s great news that the concessions were made
one week before the start of WTM. "South Africa is going to WTM with a
positive story this year. But, we`ll have to go cap in hand to our
partners to say that we`re back in business. We`ll need to ask them to
put us back into their brochures, but we need to be aware that other
destinations have taken South Africa`s place in the brochures."

"It will be important for the tourism industry to stem the tide of the
losses and then build up the trust of the travellers again. This can
take some time," says Bac, adding that broken trust takes a lot of
effort to repair. The most urgent course of action, according to Bac,
is to make sure the tourism industry and the Department of Home
Affairs are on the same page. "We need to be clear on what the changes
are and establish one set of consistent communication," she says,
adding that once that is in place, a lot of time and energy and money
will need to be spent to get the right message across.

Michael Tollman, CEO of Cullinan Holdings, agrees that it is important
that the South African tourism industry communicates clearly with the
world exactly which changes will be implemented and when. Only with
clear communication will the industry be able to change the dynamics
in the markets that have been affected by the regulations.

According to Tollman, tourism in South Africa was severely affected
this year by the Ebola crisis as well as by the visa regulations. "We
are now past Ebola and hopefully past visa issues. All depends now on
how efficiently we as a tourism industry can communicate with the
world and turn around any negative sentiment."

Ramawela agrees and says it is imperative that the DHA and the tourism
industry quickly get together and bring clarity. She explains that
although the government has given clear deadlines on most things,
there is still some confusion. Firstly, she says, we need clarity as
to what `strongly advised` means and which documents will be accepted
from travellers from visa-exempt countries. Secondly, more clarity is
required around the criteria for the accredited tour companies.

The road to recovery can only start once the changes are effective,
says Linda Pampallis, CEO of Thompsons Africa. She says the Department
of Home Affairs has told the tourism industry that they will issue an
advisory as to when the changes to the regulations will take effect.
Until that time, things will continue as before. "We had a blue sky
moment, but the gates aren`t open yet. We will need to bide our time
until the changes are effective," she says.

Once the changes are effective, it will be up to the tourism industry
to convince affected markets to put South Africa back in their
marketing campaigns, says Linda. She adds that a joint effort from the
entire industry will be required to talk up South Africa.

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