Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane says the detection of the 501Y.V2 variant of COVID-19 in South Africa has affected international tourism in the country.
Speaking during a two-day domestic travel activation campaign in the Northern Cape, the minister says the tourism sector would not withstand another hard lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19.
The minister says it will take time to regain the number of international tourists with the sector currently being boosted by domestic tourism.
“When South Africa announced that there was a variant that came up within South Africa, that made international tourists more cautious. We believe in the tourism industry that we cannot afford another hardcore lockdown because we will…