The coronavirus impact will only be known long after the global health crisis ends, but this presents opportunities for the tourism sector to diversify, writes Sisa Ntshona.
SA Tourism recently launched a new brand campaign centred on the message “Let’s visit each other and welcome the world”. As the new coronavirus continues to spread globally, this message may now raise an important question: How do we welcome the world?
Based on the consistent growth of the sector, the UN World Tourism Organisation predicted “growth of 3% to 4% in international tourist arrivals for this year, with international departures worldwide particularly strong in the first quarter of this year”. The World Travel and Tourism Council estimates that the epidemic could be the biggest drag on global economic growth since the 2008 financial crisis. Airlines are expected to lose $29 billion in revenue this year. This excludes the impact on the other areas of the tourism value chain.
This includes a network of health facilities, the National Health Laboratory Service which is able to perform diagnostic testing and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases with its highly qualified staff, sophisticated laboratory systems and emergency operations centre. Several major global conferences such as the Mobile World Congress and Europe’s largest travel trade show, ITB Berlin, have already been cancelled.
As one of the largest tourism marketing events on the African calendar and one of the top three “must visit” events on the global calendar, this year’s Africa Travel Indaba will go ahead as planned. We will keep stakeholders updated of any changes. There is no doubt that the economic impact of the coronavirus will be felt across most sectors, and tourism is no different.
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