Recent figures stemming from South Africa’s tourism industry have been grim when compared to previous years, and even the country’s positive entrepreneurs operating in the sector are finding their perennial optimism strained.
This is according to Business Partners Limited, a specialist risk finance company for formal, small, and medium enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa – whose client base include a range of entrepreneurs in the tourism industry, ranging from tour group operators to accommodation owners and suppliers.
Gerrie van Biljon, executive director at Business Partners Limited, says there is much to be hopeful about when looking past the recent storm clouds created by the new regulations that require visitors to South Africa to apply in person for a visa.
Discussing the issue of the regulations, he says that these new barriers are a setback to the tourism industry. “These effectively require many prospective visitors from countries, such as China and India, to travel hundreds of kilometers in their own countries to one of the isolated offices that handle South African visa applications.”
The impact on the industry is clear in the latest figures. International Air Transport Association (IATA) showed a 21% year-on-year decline in air ticket revenue for tickets purchase to South Africa this July. It is also estimated that South Africa will receive 100 000 fewer overseas tourists this year (*Grant Thornton). A research report by Tourism Business Council of South Africa suggests that the lower tourist numbers could result in as many as 9 300 jobs losses in the tourism industry and a total net loss to the South African GDP of approximately R4.1 billion in 2015.
Van Biljon says that for local businesses connected to international tourism to remain hopeful under such conditions, entrepreneurs need to do what they do best: take a long-term view of things and swing into action immediately.
