TOURISM WORKERS LANGUISH AT HOME AS NEGATIVE PCR TEST

REQUIREMENT REMAINS FOR VACCINATED TRAVELLERS

PRETORIA, 10 MARCH 2022 – South Africa could lose as many as 400,000 overseas tourists this year, supporting about 100,000 jobs in the wider economy, if the requirement for presenting a negative PCR test on arrival for vaccinated travellers is not removed as a matter of urgency.

So says the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) which has for months fervently lobbied the South African government to align its inbound travel regulations with other countries which have recognised that vaccinated travellers pose little to no health risk to residents and value the positive impact that tourism has on their economies.

“Inbound international tourism is critical for the South African economy and it will rebound, but if PCR tests deter even 47% of the potential 2022 long-haul inbound market to South Africa, we stand to miss out on a possible 400,000 overseas tourists who would have travelled this year,” says Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, CEO Tourism Business Council of South Africa.

“When one considers that the average foreign exchange spend per tourist, remitted or spent, in South Africa is R31,000, this is potentially worth R12,4 billion to our economy and would support around 100,000 jobs throughout many economic sectors. We have tourism people waiting at home to return to work and the means to make it so, but we need to start being far more decisive if we want to be saving jobs and growing employment.”

The disincentive to travel that the PCR test requirement poses is real. In the United Kingdom (South Africa’s largest source market), tests are typically £59 to £79^[1], which for a family of four is £236 to £476 (or R4,840 to R9,750). Cheaper government clinic tests can be done, but often with 400 to 800 mile return trips and limited booking slots, which to all intents and purposes negates them as an option.

In the US PCR tests are typically between $130 and $180, with some clinics charging $390^[2]. A family of four would pay the equivalent of R7,860 to R10,880, even more than in the UK.

Coupled with the inconvenience, and uncertainty, these tests and their costs are a significant deterrent to travel. This is clearly indicated in a mid-2021 poll by YouGov in the UK, which found that roughly half of British adults (47%) view the financial costs of COVID-19 tests to be a barrier to international travel^[3].

“Tourists from four of our top long-haul source markets – the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands – are used to a dispensation in their own country of no PCR tests required for returning vaccinated individuals. Despite the additional expense, they are irritated by a destination country requiring these tests for a visit,” says Tshivhengwa.

“We must move faster to adopt no PCR tests for vaccinated arrivals enable and facilitate business and leisure travel to and from our country as soon as possible. Allow travellers, resident and non-resident, to enter South Africa from any source country if they are fully vaccinated, while still requiring a negative PCR test <72 hours before departure from non-fully vaccinated people. There is no reason why this cannot be promulgated immediately.”

The reopening of international travel is a competitive global arena. Destination South Africa with its open spaces, lack of crowds, outdoor activities and warm climate, along with a myriad of excellent bucket-list experiences, is sought after in the post-COVID travel era.

Before COVID, international inbound tourism to South Africa vied with vehicle exports to be our 2^nd (or 3^rd) export sector, bringing in R122bn of foreign exchange and supporting some 674,000 jobs through-out the economy.

“To maximise this undoubted potential and get our tourism people back to work, we need this barrier to be removed for South Africa as a matter of urgency. The sooner we do so, the more jobs and businesses will be saved, or will be revived,” Tshivhengwa concludes.

***Ends***

ABOUT TBCSA

The Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) is the umbrella organisation representing the unified voice of business in the hospitality, travel, and tourism sector.

The TBCSA was established in February 1996 by leading tourism businesses and associations to form a unified platform to engage with the South African government around the development of the sector.

It is a not-for-profit, member-centric organisation mandated with the task of:

• Lobbying the public sector and behalf of its members
• Facilitating key industry programmes aimed at driving growth and development in the sector
• Monitoring and influencing macro-economic developments which impact on the sector
• The organisation serves to unite and influence the diverse travel and tourism sector to contribute to a competitive, responsible, and inclusive tourism economy. The work of the organisation and its strategy is guided by the following priority areas:
  • Providing organised business in the sector a route to Government
  • Focussing on legislative issues and policies impacting on the travel and tourism sector
  • Managing and growing TOMSA
  • Member engagement and Communication
  • Influencing the marketing of destination South Africa
  • Research – commissioning, collating, and communicating

1. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59551497 ↑
2. https://www.consumerreports.org/covid-19/how-much-should-it-cost-to-get-tested-for-covid-19-a1011758904/ ↑
3. https://yougov.co.uk/topics/travel/articles-reports/2021/05/12/nearly-half-british-adults-view-cost-covid-19-test ↑

TBCSA CALLS FOR GOVERNMENT TO REMOVE PCR TEST REQUIREMENT FOR FULLY VACCINATED INBOUND TRAVELLERS

PRETORIA, 16 FEBRUARY 2022 – South Africa must remove the negative PCR test requirement for incoming travellers who are fully vaccinated to stimulate inbound tourism demand.

Several countries with a strong tourism value proposition have already done so. Further delays in following suit quickly are detrimental to the country positioning itself as travel ready and attractive, says Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, CEO Tourism Business Council of South Africa.

“We have a very small window of opportunity as tourism destinations around the world like Australia reopen and others like the United Kingdom remove the negative PCR testing requirement for all inbound travellers,” says Tshivhengwa.

The TBCSA is again calling for this action just days after the Government of Botswana announced that fully vaccinated travellers would no longer be required to furnish a negative PCR test to enter the country, thus elevating the destination’s attractiveness for inbound international tourists.

Says Tshivhengwa: “Beyond the requirement being difficult and expensive for many of our international visitors, the World Health Organization has reiterated that international travellers should not be considered a priority group for PCR testing and that those who have been fully vaccinated should be exempt from heightened travel restrictions.”

As South Africa sees international travel returning to some level of normality, and acknowledging that for travel to happen, the destination needs to deliver ease of travel to incoming visitors, it is essential that South Africa follow suit and remove this requirement.

“Our tourism industry needs to get back to business and our people need to get back to work. Travellers are ready to visit and further contribute to our industry’s growth. However, the PCR test requirement is the biggest inhibitor,” Tshivhengwa concludes.

***Ends***

ABOUT TBCSA

The Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) is the umbrella organisation representing the unified voice of business in the hospitality, travel, and tourism sector.

The TBCSA was established in February 1996 by leading tourism businesses and associations to form a unified platform to engage with the South African government around the development of the sector. 

It is a not-for-profit, member-centric organisation mandated with the task of:

• Lobbying the public sector and behalf of its members
• Facilitating key industry programmes aimed at driving growth and development in the sector
• Monitoring and influencing macro-economic developments which impact on the sector
• The organisation serves to unite and influence the diverse travel and tourism sector to contribute to a competitive, responsible, and inclusive tourism economy. The work of the organisation and its strategy is guided by the following priority areas:
  • Providing organised business in the sector a route to Government
  • Focussing on legislative issues and policies impacting on the travel and tourism sector
  • Managing and growing TOMSA
  • Member engagement and Communication
  • Influencing the marketing of destination South Africa
  • Research – commissioning, collating, and communicating

17th December 2021

Head of European Union Delegation: South Africa

2 Greenpark Estate,

27 George Storrar Drive,

Groenkloof, PRETORIA

Her Excellency Riina Kionka

URGENT MEETING REQUEST

THE CASE FOR THE IMMEDIATE LIFTING OF EU TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS TO SOUTH AFRICA

As chief executive of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa, I speak for all businesses involved in South Africa’s tourism industry which per annum typically receives over 685 000 tourist from other European countries.

I am writing to request an urgent briefing meeting with you following the UK’s announcement on Tuesday 14th December that it would be lifting travel restrictions to South Africa on the basis that “now there is community transmission of Omicron in the UK… a travel ban is now less effective in slowing the incursion of Omicron from abroad”.

While we recognise the rapid introduction of a travel ban was an early necessity to buy governments time to assess the Omicron risk, we are now calling for the EU to re-instate travel between South Africa and your countries on the basis that high infection rates in over 50 countries across the world mean a person is as likely to catch the omicron variant in Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels or Paris or as they are in Johannesburg or Cape Town.

Travel bans have become redundant in the face of this reality.

I know you are well aware of the importance of tourism to South Africa and the Southern African region. I cannot overstate the negative impact this travel ban is having on our industry, local communities, and conservation efforts, particularly over our all-important Christmas holiday period.

In a typical year, national income from tourism in South Africa is €16 billion supporting 726 000 direct jobs and in total 1.5 million jobs directly and indirectly.

We know already that when the travel ban was announced on 25th November our sector lost €51 million in the first 48 hours due to cancelled international bookings. We estimate this could increase to €1.4 billion if the bans continue, resulting in 205 000 fewer annual jobs supported by the tourism industry.

While we fully recognise the risk Covid continues to present and the understandable concerns around the transmissibility of Omicron, I would draw your attention to the recent findings from the first real world assessment of the variant which was published this week by South Africa’s largest private health insurer, Discovery Health in collaboration with the South African Medical Research Council.

This research, based on 78,000 positive Omicron Covid cases in South Africa between 15th November and 7th December revealed that two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine continue to confer a 70% protection against severe complications from Omicron and that the risk of hospitalisation among all adults is 29% lower for those with the Omicron variant, compared to the ancestral variant that originated in China.

Particularly encouraging is that the data indicates that 70% of hospital admissions are unvaccinated and that there are clear signs that hospitalisation rates are not tracking community transmission in the way they did in the previous three waves.

In light of the on-going discussions on this matter at the highest levels in Europe, and the facts above, which we believe make a compelling and rational case for the lifting of the travel ban to South Africa, we urgently request a meeting with you to discuss this critical issue so that European Union travel restrictions can be lifted as soon as possible

Yours sincerely,

Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa

Chief Executive Officer

Tuesday, 14 December 2021

TOURISM SECTOR WELCOMES OFFICIAL CONFIRMATION OF SOUTH AFRICA’S REMOVAL FROM UK RED LIST

• OMICRON VARIANT CLASSIFIED LOW-RISK IN MAJOR NEW SOUTH AFRICAN ANALYSIS
• OMICRON ON-TRACK TO BECOME DOMINANT VARIANT IN UK THIS WEEK

Key findings from South Africa study:

• South Africa’s leading private healthcare provider, Discovery Health, unveils the largest real-world assessment of the Omicron variant to date, with over 211,000 positive COVID-19 test results, 41% from adult members who had received two-doses of the Pfizer- BioNTech vaccine. Approximately 78,000 of these positive COVID-19 test results were attributed to Omicron infections, over the period 15 November to 7 December 2021.
• Evidence strongly suggests Omicron results in a typically mild illness, irrespective of age or level of prior immunity.
• Rates of South African hospitalisations due to Covid remain low, despite very high Omicron infection levels.
• Numbers of patients in South Africa requiring either oxygen or ventilation due to Covid remains low.
• Two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination provides 70% protection against severe complications of COVID-19 requiring hospitalisation, and 33% protection against COVID-19 infection, during the current Omicron wave.

• Risk of hospital admission among adults diagnosed with COVID-19 is 29% lower for Omicron variant infection compared to D614G infection in South Africa’s first wave in mid-2020, after adjusting for vaccination status

Implications:

• The red list travel restrictions in the UK and across the EU are now redundant due to the low risk presented by Omicron and the high rates of community transmission across the region
• Hospitalisations are likely to remain low in the current wave, irrespective of antibody levels
• Impact likely to be even more modest in countries with high vaccination rates

Encouragingly, the result of the Discovery Health study shows that vaccinated individuals who received two-doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have 70% protection against hospital admission. Whilst protection against hospital admission reduced from the highs of 93% in South Africa’s Delta-driven variant, 70% is still regarded as very good protection.

President of the SAMRC, Professor Glenda Gray said, “We are extremely encouraged by the results of Discovery Health’s analysis. It is extremely important to be able to demonstrate to the public that in a real-world setting – in the presence of a highly transmissible new COVID-19 variant – the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine provides good protection against severe disease and hospitalisation.”

David Frost, CEO SATSA, representative body for in-bound tourism businesses in South Africa said:

‘This is welcome news but red-listing Southern Africa for just three weeks caused incalculable damage to jobs and livelihoods in the region, with little discernible benefit to health outcomes in the UK.

‘The UK government must now consign this blunt instrument to history and recognise the devastating impact red lists have to confidence amongst the travelling public.’

Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, Chief Executive Officer – TBCSA , said:

“You are as likely to catch Omicron in Coventry as you are in Cape Town, and the scientific evidence is clear, that for most people this variant results in a mild disease which poses no threat to public health.

“Millions of people across Southern Africa are dependent on tourism for an income, and thousands more families are waiting anxiously to know if their loved ones will be home for the holidays. The UK needs to act immediately to begin rebuilding trust with the Global South where this travel policy has caused anger and resentment.”

Notes to Editors:

Tourism – economic impact in Southern Africa

The UK is the largest overseas market for tourism into South Africa. In a typical year approximately 450,000 British passport holders travel into South Africa, contributing to national income from tourism of R265 billion ($18bn). One job in tourism supports up to ten people in rural areas. Tourism supports 1.5 million jobs in South Africa, generating vital income for training and education. This disproportionately benefits the life chances of young women given that approximately 70% of tourism workers are themselves women.

Travel and tourism is also critical to the funding of conservation in Africa. Over the past 30 years government financing for parks and biodiversity protection has declined in favour of a model sustained by eco-tourism. Without this income, rural communities are hit hard. Wildlife is looked at as food rather than an asset to be protected. Tourism infrastructure is destroyed, fences come down and the knowledge and skills in the sector move abroad or into different industries. This negative cycle threatens not only habitats but the planet. Africa’s grasslands and rainforests are only now being appreciated for their role in carbon capture, something that is put at risk if landowners are forced to monetise them through more extractive industries like mining, logging or large-scale agriculture.

Issued by:

Natalia Rosa

Big Ambitions

Tel: 083 449 4334

Email: natalia@bigambitions.co.za