Cape Times reports that in a major setback for the tourism and hospitality sector in the Western Cape, global travel bans on SA will be devastating for the local economy, which is reliant on international visitors during the December peak season.

So said the provincial government as the tourism sector, among others, received a hammer blow with the announcement of the new Omicron Covid-19 variant and the subsequent globally imposed restrictions on SA. Premier Alan Winde said health officials remained on high alert, but no cases had been detected in the province on Sunday. “This is extremely distressing to me, especially because the WHO has made it clear that travel bans are not an effective response. Our economy needs help urgently, and that is why I call on President Cyril Ramaphosa to announce an emergency financial support package for this sector so that we can save jobs,” Winde said. Meanwhile, Hapiloe Sello of SANParks said they were bracing for mass booking amendments. The Restaurant Association of SA (Rasa) pointed out that arbitrary restrictions would destroy jobs and cripple a sector that had yet to recover from previous lockdown measures. Rasa’s Wendy Alberts said the sector was a major employer of the most vulnerable category of workers, and that half of the country’s restaurants had already been forced to close. “The government cannot exacerbate this crisis by adding restrictions of its own to the unjustified and unscientific panic response of foreign governments,” Alberts warned. Vinpro chief executive Rico Basson said the wine sector, linked to both international and domestic tourism, had been highly affected by the latest developments.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Francesca Villette and Okuhle Hlati at Cape Times

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