News24.com|Domestic market not enough to fill the coronavirus space for tourist lodging, information shows
Tenancy rates at open hotels in SA have actually been progressively increasing. (Supplied).
- Measured at current costs – for that reason in small terms – overall earnings for the tourist accommodation market decreased by 71.8%in September 2020 compared to September 2019.
- At the same time seasonally adjusted earnings from accommodation increased by 56.7%month-on-month in September 2020 and by 98.6%month-on-month in August.
- Tourism professional Lee-Ann Bac of BDO foresees South Africans will likely pick self-drive options and shorter trips – or even just staycations – this summertime season.
The latest information reflects the massive decrease which happened in the market due to the coronavirus lockdowns and effect.
Determined at present costs – for that reason in small terms – total income for the traveler accommodation industry decreased by 71.8%in September 2020 compared with September 2019, Stats SA announced on Monday. Income from lodging reduced by 72.9%year-on-year in September2020 According to Data SA, this is due to both less accommodation nights sold (down 65.3%) along with a decline in the typical income per accommodation night sold (down 22.1%).
The biggest year-on-year declines in earnings from lodging were reported by hotels (-786%) and guest-houses and guest-farms (-735%). Income from lodging reduced by 81.8%in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the third quarter of 2019.
At the exact same time seasonally adjusted earnings from accommodation increased by 56.7%month-on-month in September 2020 and by 98.6%month-on-month in August.
Tourism specialist Lee-Ann Bac of BDO points out that, although the choice up in numbers between August and September (which had some school holidays) is a good indication, it is still substantially below in 2015.
Not filling the gap
” The latest tourism accommodation statistics show that domestic tourism is merely not filling the space in the market,” states Bac.
She says information from Smith Travel Research Study (STR), which likewise assesses the state of affairs in October, shows the most affordable occupancy rate amongst open hotels in SA remained in Might (17%). It then progressively increased over the following months to 30%in October.
In October open hotels in the Free State had 56%occupancy, those in Limpopo 42%; in North West 48%; in the Eastern Cape 34%; in Gauteng 25%; in KZN 42%in the Western Cape 21%and in Mpumalanga 34%. The information, therefore, shows that the provinces closer to Gauteng are doing the best.
” For me this reveals that the domestic market has been travelling, especially to KZN. Travellers were likely to drive and wanting to go to more ‘spread out’ locations like the Drakensberg and along the coast, wanting to get away from city centres,” states Bac.
Big loser
This is illustrated by signs that in October open hotels in Durban’s city centre had 37%occupancy. The big loser was, nevertheless, Cape Town, where open hotels in the city centre had only 18%occupancy. In Sandton open 4-star hotels had just 28%occupancy compared to 30%tenancy levels at 5-star hotels across the whole of Gauteng.
In her view, the low occupancy level among Cape Town city centre hotels in October was likewise due to the lack of demand from organization travel and that there are no real worldwide tourist numbers.
” We will see foreign tourists coming, which will benefit Cape Town, however it will still be controlled. So, lodging facilities would need major specials and a focus on security protocols to bring in visitors to City Centre locations,” says Bac.
” For that reason, it still appears like the summertime season will be mainly a domestic one. Foreign traveler numbers will be small, we need to be reasonable about that.”
The problem with having mainly a domestic season, in her view, is that South Africans have restricted disposable earnings, causing much shorter holidays with a choice for self-catering alternatives.
” I believe the high need will be for homes to rent so that households can self-isolate. I also do not think there will be a high demand for flying as people will decide to drive or simply stay at house on so-called staycations, perhaps choosing to disappear for a weekend or simply an instant,” says Bac.
” So, the tourism operators and lodging facilities need to end up being imaginative to attract the local market and get those staying at home to go out and visit destinations.”
Jeremy Clayton, chairperson Fedhasa Western Cape, the most recent information from Stats SA validate the unfavorable effect of “ambiguous federal government messaging around leisure travel throughout lockdown level 4 and level 3 which continued through November with the “red list” of countries from which travel were banned to SA.
” The huge occupancy decrease has had a huge impact on job losses and the market as a whole. We motivate government to quickly engage with worldwide counterparts, lower expensive travel policies and utilise sound judgment concepts that will encourage safe and accountable travel,” states Clayton.
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