Almost a quarter (24%) of the 249 people who participated in Tourism Update’s informal monthly salary poll received 100% of their salary in November.
However, it remains to be seen if this will this still be the case for December after industry saw a loss of over R1bn (€55.37m) in bookings following the discovery of the Omicron variant by South African scientists, triggering widespread global travel bans against several southern African countries.
The November results depict industry’s overall feeling of optimism for a strong season and recovery before what industry called its own ‘Black Friday’ on November 26 when the UK led the strict travel restrictions by placing SA and six other countries on its red list.
The poll also shows that 26% of respondents received more than 60% of their salaries while 21% received between 20% and 40% of their salaries.
A total of 14% received salaries below 19% while 15% were unemployed as a result of COVID-19.