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A View of Tourism Lives Affected by Lockdown
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Will the Youth be a Mechanism for Opening our Doors Sooner? We think Yes
Thanks to one of our members – @erin-cusack Erin Cusack from Tourism Update – for this piece.
We have been discussing this for some time now and would love to know your thoughts…
Here’s to the Brave One’s
[ As seen on Tourism Update – 21 July 2020 – Erin Cusack ]
Youth tourism could be one of the first sub-sectors to recover once travel restrictions are lifted, but this is dependent on the sector receiving support.
“We are expecting the youth to be the first ones to travel,” said SATSA Youth Chapter Vice-Chair, Tim Louw. (As on Mzansi Champs @timlouw) “While older generations may be more cautious about travel, the youth, who are less impacted by the virus, feel they are at a lower risk of being majorly impacted by it.”
Louw believes reopening youth tourism could be the first step to restarting the whole industry. “In terms of operating within a COVID-19 world, youth tourism could be a safety net for the industry. We are lower risk, so let us take the risk.”
He advocated for youth tourism to reopen soon, as this sub-sector – which supports vital parts of the economy – is facing massive financial difficulties. This was highlighted by a survey conducted with 58 local youth tourism businesses.
Of the 58 companies polled, 20 rely entirely on international markets, including the US, the UK, Germany and Brazil, according to Louw.
The survey further highlighted that, as youth tourism businesses tended to have higher numbers of employees, more livelihoods were at stake as travel restrictions continued. “Many of those employed in youth tourism are young people and women,” said Louw, adding that youth tourism supported SATSA’s three-pronged approach to tourism recovery, the third of which focuses on employment of women and youth.
This focus is important to ensure that the plight currently faced by the tourism industry is heard by government, as explained during a recent Tourism Business Council of South Africa webinar.
“Government’s narrative and focus are around inclusive growth of the economy and that is very heavily focused on women and the youth. We know in the tourism and travel industry that about 70% of people who are employed in this industry are women, and 60% are youth,” said SATSA Communications Manager, Natalia Rosa.
Louw confirmed that at his own accommodation establishment, 10 of his 13 employees were women. “Between the 58 companies polled, 1 079 people are employed and a significant number of those are youths and women.”
Youth tourism has been playing an active role in overall recovery of the tourism sector. “We have been critically involved in the development of health and safety standards,” said Louw, referring to protocols developed in collaboration with SATSA and other stakeholders. “Youth tourism products would be held to these same standards should we be allowed to reopen.”
The survey results showed that about 60% of businesses were certain that they would be forced to close before February 2021 should conditions not change.
“Setting a date for reopening is a great place to start, because it allows us to start marketing two months in advance. This will bring in cash flow and allow us to bring back employees.” Louw emphasised that should borders reopen this year, the industry would likely only start recovering at the end of next year’s peak season.
Will the Youth be a Mechanism for Opening our Doors Sooner?
#iamtourism #millionsintourism #wearetourism #youthtravel #iamyouthtravel #endlockdown #southafricaistravelready #livevslivelihoods #southafricasoon #beatourismchampion
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58 of Many – Youth Tourism is Key to Tourism Recovery
58 of Many
Dear Youth Tourism Stakeholders,
As the Vice-Chair of the SATSA Youth Chapter, I have been able to collect valuable data from 58 of my industry peers and am taking this opportunity to share the insights with you, as disheartening as they are.
Firstly, my sincere thank you to everyone that responded to our survey and assisted us in collecting this valuable data.
Various sub-sectors of youth tourism participated in the survey, including accommodation, language schools, volunteering, international internships, tour operators and other tourism services.
Respondents covered backpacker lodges located along the most pristine parts of our Eastern Cape coastline to tourist guides in the Drakensberg and transport services which operate across the country.
Highlights of the research:
- The 58 companies polled employ 1,079 people directly with an average number of employees per company of just over 18.
- Of the 58 companies, 20 are 100% reliant on international travel.
- These 58 companies generate R550 million in revenue per year.
- 91% of that R550 million revenue is reliant on inbound travel.
- If borders are not reopened, about 980 jobs will be in jeopardy.
- Over 47% said they would be closed before October if urgent change does not happen.
- Revenues for 2020 are expected to decline over 80% on last year – a decline of R460 million.
This shows our industry is facing imminent collapse, but we still have a chance to survive. To ensure there is a future for South Africa’s incredible tourism industry, and based on learnings from the strategies of neighbouring countries and global leaders, there are three things we need urgently to save jobs and businesses and protect livelihoods:
- For government to truly acknowledge the industry. We are South Africans, just like you. We are eager to engage with government. Let us do this together. The current silence is deafening.
- Provincial and international borders to be opened for safe travel, under strict health and safety protocols to ensure we balance lives with preserving livelihoods.
- Forward guidance. Bookings have a lead time of around 60 days and, even with deposits paid in the interim, cashflow is key at the best of times. Without a scheduled date or minimum criteria for our borders to open, few are willing to commit to South Africa travel.
I believe the above are the start to getting South Africa back on the radar of those intrepid travellers who want to visit Africa.
Together, we can save these 58 companies, 1,079 livelihoods, and the many, many more outside this small snapshot of an industry on its knees.
Let’s invite our guests to take part in the recovery. Let them come see #southafricaistravelready.
Sincerely,
Tim Louw
Vice-Chair, SATSA Youth Chapter
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New Features To Try Right Now
Hello Champions, we hope you have been well and staying safe while moving into the world again after the serious lockdown!
Our secret developer team have been hard at work to publish some great new features for you this week and we are proud to show you some of the great functions we can now all utilise on the platform. All of which will be easily available in the panel on the LEFT side of the website.
First up – the Private Groups function:
- Why is it great – this group function offers discretion for people that want to list needs that they would like to be private.
- Try it out HERE, after you have registered, in our first private group.
Then we are on to the Think Tank Page:
- Why is it great – this is a page dedicated to the free-thinkers, innovators and game-changers in our industry that have great ideas they want to share and turn those dreams into action!
- Try it out HERE, so that we can help you build your ideas into plans that can assist many people in tourism OR so we can put you in touch with the right people to get you started on your business idea, action plan or just brainstorm that baby into greatness!
Next up we have the Newsfeed Page:
- Why is it great – This is a page we specially created so we can share stories with each other – whether a success story of assistance offered, some great initiatives from our members or just a quick beach picture of your first swim after lockdown – this will be the page for that!
- Try it out HERE, and share your stories, invite friends to join, offer great services or just send us a pic of your travel dreams and happy guests.
Then our new and improved Members Area:
- Why is it great – well, besides looking gorgeous (thanks to the designers!), this is the area that any individuals can log in to see the profiles and possibly assist as Super Samaritans. This is also the area we will spend our time to connect with friends, send messages and build our community stronger so we can endure this Flippen pandemic.
- Try it out HERE, to see what the profiles look like and add some friends, send messages or just see who’s new on Mzansi Tourism Champions.
We also need you all to test everything you can as this is the start of collaboration on the platform – so please click everywhere you can, follow any links, explore the platform at please let us know if there are any changes or improvements you can recommend. What would we be without YOU…?!!
Take your time signing up, most of us have a lot of time now, so tke it easy. Please add as much details as you can on the profile section and keep it personal as this is what can break down that distance barrier between people while we spend more and more time online these days.
This platform we are still busy building is aiming at bringing people closer together during times when technology is slowly taking away our human element in interaction. Times are changing fast and we all know how valuable face-to-face discussions and meetings can be – but lets at least try to “keep it REAL” and engage online in a way that stays human…
We thank you for your time here and for thinking of the future of many in travel.
See you soon on the beaches, on the roads and in the stunning outdoors of OUR South Africa!
The Mzansi Champs Team
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Mzansi Tourism Champions, version 2.0 is LIVE!
Mzansi Tourism Champions, version 2.0 is LIVE!
Perfection lies in the process, not the goal – Unknown
We’re very excited & proud to announce that our new and improved platform is now LIVE and taking registrations.
It’s been a beautiful learning curve for the Mzansi Champs team but now we can roll out the new and improved platform. Here are some of the new features:
- beautiful profiles and very user-friendly interface
- private groups for the discrete listing of needs
- messaging services and friend requests
- guest blogging for the eager writers out there
- anyone can create groups for platform-wide OR private discussions
- a public newsfeed for listing large or small needs, updating friends and other members and posting any travel content
- and of course the Think Tank Page for innovative ideas and national collaboration efforts
We invite all our friends and colleagues to hop onto the registration page and create a profile, get surfing and create groups, make some posts and enjoy the power of the new version 2.0!
Test everything and let us know where we can improve. Thanks!
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