Faculty of Management Sciences
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Item Preliminary economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the hotel sector in South Africa(Africajournals, 2021-01-01) Sucheran, ReshmaEmerging infectious diseases and pandemics place a substantial burden on global economies and public health. The hospitality industry and global health pandemics are fundamentally linked, and the sector is highly vulnerable to pandemics. The COVID-19 pandemic (coronavirus) has triggered an unprecedented crisis in the hospitality industry globally, and in particular, the hotel sector. As governments have introduced extraordinary measures to contain the virus, such as travel restrictions and physical distancing, which have brought the hotel sector to a standstill. This paper examines the preliminary economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the hotel sector in South Africa. The data for this paper is based on the hotel sector specifically, and is extracted from a larger dataset that examined the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on all accommodation establishments in South Africa. Online surveys were administered to accommodation establishment managers. Approximately 3 000 accommodation establishments were targeted, 482 responded, of which 67 were hotels. The study confirms that the hotel sector in South Africa has experienced severe economic impacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and a number of hotels face the risk of bankruptcy and permanent closure. Employment has also been substantially affected by job losses, reduced pay and staff made redundant. Current concerns facing hotels are cash flow, travel restrictions, guest cancellations, low consumer spending, the overall economic uncertainty of the industry, as well as the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.Item The COVID-19 pandemic and guesthouses in South Africa : economic impacts and recovery measures(Informa UK Limited, 2021) Sucheran, ReshmaABSTRACT The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has rapidly spread throughout the globe, and recovering from the pandemic will be a massive test on economic systems. The pandemic has severely affected the accommodation sector as global travel has come to an almost complete standstill as of April 2020. This paper provides a preliminary assessment of the economic impacts of the pandemic on guesthouses in South Africa and the response measures adopted by this sector. Through online surveys, the empirical results show that guesthouse operations were severely disrupted by the pandemic, leading to a critical decline in revenue and a pronounced threat to job security. Despite implementing various response measures and strategies, guesthouses were somewhat concerned about the future of their businesses due to the uncertainty of the pandemic. This research can assist in developing intervention measures to support guesthouses in addressing the economic challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.Item The economic impacts of tourism on the local community of Bergville, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa(International Foundation for Research and Development (IFRD), 2015-10) Mabaso, Simiso LindokuhleTourism is playing an increasingly important role in the local and national economy. The outstanding beauty of the northern Drakensberg is a prime tourist attraction in KwaZulu-Natal, attracting a regular flow of tourists throughout the year (Okhahlamba Municipality, 2013). The primary objective of this research is to investigate whether the benefits of tourism that are supposed to be reaped by the local community of Bergville, exist. If so, what are these benefits? There might be people from the local community, who are working within the tourism sector, but what are the types of jobs that they do, their level of job-satisfaction, and the extent to which they are able to earn a living from employment within the tourism sector? Do they have the necessary skills and training to allow them to make a successful career within the tourism sector? The White Paper on the Development and Promotion of Tourism (DEAT, 1996), states that with any tourism development in the local communities, local people should be involved in the decision making. They should be trained if they lack the necessary skills required to participate in that development. All these issues are relevant to Bergville as the region has a lot of tourism development, and it is a place that integrates tourism and conservation.