South Africa is gradually re-opening domestic travel, moving to Alert Level 2 from 17 August 2020.
South African Tourism Chief Executive Officer, Mr Sisa Ntshona, says the re-opening of domestic tourism is an encouraging start to further regional and, ultimately, international travel.
“The permitting of inter-provincial leisure and business travel is much welcome, needed and very encouraging. As envisioned, this is part of a phased approach to the opening up of tourism activities with domestic tourism being at the forefront, followed by regional and ultimately international travel. As South African Tourism, working together with the sector, we have used the quiet lockdown period to develop plans to ensure that travel is safe and accessible for the many travellers who have been patiently waiting to explore our country again.
“Whilst our regional and international borders remain closed, we know many travellers have been eager to get out of their countries and to travel to South Africa to enjoy the wide variety of our leisure activities. The opening of domestic tourism is a great step closer towards this. We, too are looking forward to a time when we can welcome visitors from across the world to our beautiful country again.
“I would like to thank our international trade partners for their unyielding support and continued patience.”
Ntshona also emphasised the importance of continuing to practise safety measures including wearing of masks, washing hands and still maintaining social distancing.
“The pandemic is still with us. Our industry has put in place globally-benchmarked health and safety protocols to ensure that all travellers and tourism sector employees are safe. We remain committed to flattening the curve in order for our sector to grow again and to reopen our regional and international borders.”
