Domestic tourism will be South Africa’s ‘bread and butter’ for the foreseeable future as the country continues to face international restrictions, says South Africa Tourism chief executive Sisa Ntshona.
Talking to CNN, Ntshona said businesses will need to recalibrate and establish a balance between serving domestic and international tourists.
While South Africa hopes to see a rebound in tourism once Covid-19 vaccinations are more widespread, the suspension of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine rollout has led to further delays.
This has been furthered hampered by the stigma attached to the Covid-19 502Y.V2 variant which was first discovered in the country, according to airline booking app Hopper.
“Searches on April 7th were the highest they’ve been since December 18th, 2020. Searches are up 15% Week-over-Week (WoW) so far this week,” said Adit Damodaran, Economist at travel booking app Hopper.
But the stigma around the 502Y.V2 variant might not be that easy to shed….