Vaccinating tourism workers could boost economy, says accommodation association
Chairperson of the National Accommodation Association of South Africa Rosemarie van Staden says it is encouraging that workers in the tourism sector may be prioritised in the vaccine rollout plan.
It is understood that tourism workers could be deemed as ‘essential workers’, given that the industry is one of the cornerstones of South Africa’s economy.
The National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) has approved in principle that tourism’s frontline workers should be prioritised for vaccinations.
According to the Tourism 2020 report released by Statistics South Africa, foreign arrivals dropped by 71% from just over 15, 8million in 2019 to less than 5 million in 2020.
Van Staden believes vaccinating healthcare workers could provide more certainty to tourists.
“It is very good news that the tourism sector could be prioritized, and we are very glad to hear that.
“I absolutely think more travellers would visit the country if they know that the workers in the tourism sector are vaccinated, for me if I were to travel anywhere I would only go to a place where workers vaccinated, even people who are responsible for checking tickets at the airport must all be vaccinated,” says Van Staden.
She says the tourism sector has been badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We have been badly affected, there are several businesses even hotels that are closing down, there are several workers who will never work again and that is very sad, and I believe we must do everything to get these people back to their jobs because those people are responsible for feeding family.
“Unfortunately, even moving from lockdown level 5 to level 1 didn’t help because we have places where the staff has been reduced from 40 to 10 workers per.”
ALSO READ
