THRIVE: 24 Rebuilding Tourism and Hospitality – Where to from here? The year 2022 has largely ushered in “post” COVID Tourism in South Africa and many parts of the world. Many conversations are taking place around the need to rebuild the tourism and hospitality sector. But what does rebuilding look like? What are the building blocks needed to drive growth and development in the sector? Where to from here? asks Independent Consultant, Gillian Saunders. Tourism globally is seeing a resurgence with post lock-down “revenge” travel, and high levels of accumulated savings, driving travel uptake and especially luxury travel. As a longhaul, premium destination offering perfect post-COVID experiences, South Africa is seeing strong demand recovery. In August International tourist arrivals were at 63% of 2019 levels, but even more exciting, from January to August 2022, domestic trips taken were a whopping 140% of 2019 levels. If COVID had a silver lining it’s domestic tourism’s awakening. Emerging domestic markets which did not travel much were enticed to travel, andwell-heeled South Africans who travelled regularly overseas, found amazing experiences to enjoy in our country and both markets continue to do so. A robust and growing domestic market underpins strong international tourism, as well as spreading market risk for industry and extending the range of product available. Key to sustainable tourism post-COVID is a continued focus on domestic tourism from operators and destination marketeers. What other post-COVID trends must we address to build back a resilient industry. South Africa’s destination experience meets, or can be curated tomeet, what post33-COVID tourists are looking for: outdoor experiences in non-crowded settings, wellness travel, enjoying exclusivity in travel bubbles, high levels of luxury, bucket list experiences, feting for special occasions, extended family groups, remote work/workcations, and plenty of rural and secondary areas to explore. But more key than ever in the post COVID world, are three elements: involvement of communities, sustainable practices and impact on conservation of biodiversity and heritage. Tourists are more than ever sensitized to their impact on the environment, and expect their visit to be welcomed by host If COVID had a silver lining it’s domestic tourism’s awakening O p i n i o n image source: pexels.com
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