City of Cape Town officials are calling for hospitality and accommodation industries to reopen, now that Cape Town International Airport is open for business travel.
The City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management, James Vos, has appealed directly to the Minister of Tourism, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, to consider the reopening of the sectors.
“We are open for business travel; now we should open the general hospitality industry too, sticking to strict safety protocols already in place.” He said he had been impressed by the adaptations made by the sectors in a bid to reopen.
According to Vos, the Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa has agreed that the majority of sectors in tourism-related industries are ready to reopen safely for business and non-business travel as all the necessary health and safety protocols are in place.
“My request that Minister Kubayi-Ngubane urgently consider and lobby Cabinet to allow the reopening of tourism-related industries is a direct result of extensive health and safety protocols implemented by the industry.”
Vos quoted Kubayi-Ngubane as saying recently: “Our sector still has an opportunity for opening up more subsectors at level 3.” He said this gave him hope that with observance of strict health and safety measures, more sectors could return to operation.
