Hospitality industry calling for further easing of lockdown regulations

Hotels, guest houses and B&Bs are calling for the further easing down of lockdown regulations to allow them to open for business. The industry has been closed since the nationwide lockdown came into effect in March.

Thousands of jobs are on the line and are likely to be shed if the industry remains closed.

In the video below, the SABC looks at the impact of the lockdown on the hospitality industry: 

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This time in 2019, Bains Game Lodge in Bloemfontein had a 75% occupancy rate. The owner of the establishment, Marius Strydom, says the business was able to operate optimally. He says right now it’s down to zero.

Strydom says if things continue in this manner at the establishment, 90 jobs are on the line.

“It’s not going to open up. Hotel establishments will close down. Employees will be laid off and it will be blood bath. Already last year, it was difficult but still we were on 75% occupation. Where we are now is zero. No we try to heat it through. We are struggling with the UIF. One of our establishments didn’t get UIF. At this one we do get UIF. But we’re struggling. Everything is a problem. The platform we submitted on the UIF isn’t working all the time.”

Another Bloemfontein businessman, Lira Rantoa has appealed to government to save their businesses. Rantoa says it’s difficult to continue to pay workers without generating income.

“We managed to pay them in March and half in April  …we paid them half, but in May we couldn’t. We then asked them to come to the accommodations. We have a vegetable garden to come and get veggies, but now the gardens are depleted and the people are hungry. You see hunger written all over their faces. So, our humble plea, as we are going down on our knees, ‘Mr President, please open up the economy so that the people can come back to work and feed their families.’”

Free State Tourism and Economic Development MEC, Makalo Mohale says there’s a fund to help the tourism and hospitality industry.

“Officially, we opened for applications from the 10th of June for those specific and strategic sectors of the economy and also those sectors that have been hit hard by the pandemic. We will be offering some assistance for them which may range from re-purposing some. How do we revitalize some of their establishments.”

The hospitality industry has suffered massive losses during the nationwide lockdown.