We are seeing countries at this stage take all kinds of different approaches to welcome back visitors. South Africa went lockdown back in March and it looks like it isn’t close to being eased up anywhere. As reported by Africa News, the government of South Africa does not plan to open up to tourism for quite some time:
| Domestic tourism won’t resume until December 2020 |
| International tourism won’t resume until February 2021 |
At least that is based on today’s Department of Tourism briefing. Tourism in South Africa is enormous and accounts for almost 9 per cent of the country ‘s GDP, so probably they are eager to get it restarted. The country’s obviously taking a cautious approach, though.
For any traveller, South Africa is a bucket list destination-the Kruger National Park is home to the Big Five, the iconic Table Mountain is a must-see and its beaches are unparalleled in beauty. But it may be some time before visitors are allowed again. It was announced at a briefing on May 27 that South Africa’s Department of Tourism predicts domestic tourism will not resume until December of this year, while international tourism will not resume until February 2021.
In a further announcement on 30 May Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said: “Based on the projected COVID-19 epidemic trajectory, the first step of recovery for the sector will be driven by domestic tourism, followed by regional tourism and international tourism next year. For the tourism sector, the last two months of lockdown have been tough. We continued to see many companies struggling for survival in the sector and our estimates showed that nearly 600,000 jobs would be at risk if the sector didn’t come into action by September 2020. This reality has led to the collaboration of both government and the private sector. To resume operation of the sector. Therefore, as we open up the sector, we are assured that measures have been placed in place to protect our staff, vendors, visitors and everyone involved in the sector.
In March South Africa locked in to reduce the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. It moved to level 3 of its lockdown plan on Monday which has enabled many to return to work, including a full reopening of the retail industry. However, there will still be quite a few restrictions in place-exercise can only be done between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., while outdoors, South Africans will be required to wear masks at all times. Domestic visitors will be able to visit ‘farms’ of private and public games on a self-drive basis under Level 3 but leisure travel remains prohibited.
The news may be a disappointment to those who are planning to visit the nation this year but it looks promising to visit in 2021. Many European countries are starting to open their borders, albeit some with more strict restrictions than others, and the United Kingdom is still in negotiations with Portugal to create an air bridge-so there ‘s no need to cancel your 2020 holiday plans yet.
Data Source: onemileatatime
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