The strange machinations of government are often unpredictable and largely beyond the industry’s control. Michelle Colman chats to industry about some of the biggest threats.
1.Charter airlines: impending legislation could curb services
In 2017 charter airlines are facing a set of new regulations that could sharply curtail their ability to serve small airstrips, including those in the country’s premier safari locations. The impending legislation will require all airstrips to be licensed and firefighting compliant.
Should the owners of airstrips conform, they will incur additional costs that could be passed on to the charter airlines and their customers. Eugene Mostert, Responsible Person Operations for Federal Airlines, has cautioned that three-quarters of companies flying to airstrips stand to go out of business. For more on this story, see Tourism Update’s coverage here.
2.Accommodation providers: liquor and Airbnb bugbears
Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, CEO of Fedhasa, raises two pressing matters confronting the hospitality sector this year. The first is the proposed amendments to the Liquor Act, which include raising the legal drinking age from 18 to 21, and stopping the distribution of liquor in the vicinity of a list of wide-ranging locations, residential areas and public institutions among them. For more on this story, see Tourism Update’s coverage here.
Tshivhengwa says the provinces are also exerting pressures on liquor sales. “An example is the 100% increase in application and renewal fees in Gauteng. The province did not even consider any of the submissions from the industry,” he said.
The growth of Airbnb in South Africa and its lack of legal compliance are other concerns. Homeowners, he says, list their rooms without registering businesses, paying taxes or complying with bylaws. They are not subject to health and safety inspections, and some even offer alcohol without being licensed. Tshivhengwa believes it is partly a responsibility of Airbnb to ensure that those who list accommodation follow local laws.
3.Egocentric Home Affairs
In an article on threats and challenges, mention must be made of South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs, and complaints against its poorly considered actions that have become something of a mantra for the trade.
To quote MD of Ashtons Tours, Safaris & Shuttles, Andrew Iles: “Hidden agendas and tit-for-tat policy decisions seem to be the order of the day, and these continue to throw up new challenges, even while the existing ones are still playing themselves out. It’s obvious to all concerned that all role players should be making decisions that will make South Africa as attractive and accessible as possible to all international tourists, but this clearly does not apply to Home Affairs.
“There is nothing to suggest that this egocentric and nonsensical decision-making will abate, which leaves all members of the South African travel trade under threat of the possibility of declining business volumes from key source markets. It’s basically a case of which market will be affected next. As we saw from the unabridged birth certificate debacle, such challenges would be almost impossible to overcome at company and industry level without swift and meaningful government intervention.”
