Data from Statistics South Africa (SSA) shows that the covid19 pandemic and lockdown regulations since March 27 have had an extensive impact on the tourism sector.
In this case, incomes for the tourist accommodation industry decreased by 98 percent in May 2020 compared to May 2019. SSA says that drop was due to 98 percent decrease in the number of stay unit nights sold and a 24.2 percent decrease in the average income stay per unit night sold.
In May 2020, all accommodation types recorded large negative year on year growth in income. Hotels were the most affected entities as they recorded 98.2 percent drop in income from accommodations.
Other affected accommodation entities include caravan parks and camping sites recording 100 percent drop in incomes, guest houses and guest farms accommodation incomes dropped by 99.7 percent, while other accommodations incomes dropped by 98.8 percent.
Furthermore, SSA data shows that income from accommodation decreased by 77 percent in the three months ending May 2020 compared to the three months ended May 2019.
Total tourism spending in 2018 in South Africa was R273.2 billion with domestic tourism accounting for 56 percent of total spend and 44 percent was international inbound travel. Tourism in South Africa supports 1.5 million jobs and contributes 8.6 percent to the GDP.
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