Pls attribute to Rosemary Anderson, National Chair FEDHASA.
We are delighted that the State of Disaster has finally been lifted after 750 days of being in place, bringing an end to many of the rules that have burdened the hospitality sector, such as temperature checking and contact tracing, which have proven largely unscientific to stemming the spread of COVID.
We hope that our industry will receive certainty sooner rather than later with regards to hosting big events as the current restrictions of 50% mean that many of the international events we would host in South Africa would simply not be viable. For any medium- to long-term planning to take place and events business to be secured, we need certainty. This is an opportunity for us to position South Africa as a leading meetings, incentives, conferencing and events destination.
Further, we require the urgent removal of the PCR test requirement for unvaccinated children between the age of five and 12 years (see press release dated 31st March) as this is damaging inbound family travel to South Africa as well as hindering South African families from travelling.
As we enter a new post-pandemic era, we have learnt the importance of meaningful engagement and hope that the Government sees the benefit thereof. We genuinely want to establish a partnership with Government to develop a plan on how to grow the tourism industry, market the destination and create thousands of new jobs – the tourism industry being a key potential driver of the economy and job creation.
