Safety remains a key concern for local, regional and international travellers and South African tourism industry stakeholders – including national government, the private sector (largely through their respective associations) and local and provincial government – have been proactively addressing tourism safety over recent months.
After re-joining Tourism Update as editor in January 2020 (I left in 2004 in my previous iteration) – just ahead of the COVID pandemic – I was struck, as the massive impact of the pandemic became brutally clear, by how so many everyday tourism heroes rose from the ashes, joining hands to address the various challenges the industry faced.
From the stringent COVID regulations imposed by various governments (including our own); the balancing act of lives versus livelihoods; the huge delays in business interruption insurance payouts; the prejudice against Africa and the red lists – all these, and more, were addressed through the collective efforts of…