24/06/2020
Does South African Tourism have what it will take to revive the industry post-COVID?...
My open response to South African Tourism.
To: South African Tourism
I sat down to complete the survey that you sent me – keen to do my part to help the industry recover. When I was suddenly confronted with questions that focused on race, gender and age. I had to take a relook at the body of the email just to be sure that this was, as I understood it, a survey focused on the “survival of tourism in South Africa". It became apparent to me that you were asking the wrong questions and to respond to these questions would make me complicit in this fundamental misunderstanding of what tourism needs at this time.
I wish that you could come to understand that tourism is about the tourist. The tourist’s agenda is simple - to enjoy our beautiful country, our array of wildlife and to have a memorable holiday.
Please help me to understand the bearing that the colour, age and gender of the people that I employ has on their holiday experience? How do these factors influence bringing the tourist to South Africa or better still, back to South Africa? What does the colour, age and gender of the creators of the tourism businesses have to do with the tourist’s experience? Do these factors make seeing the big five any more exciting? Do they make Table Mountain any more majestic?
I plead with you to start asking the correct questions, so that you might be able to arrive at the correct answers. I appeal to you to put the focus back on the tourist, to put your own agendas aside and focus squarely on the tourists' needs and how to entice them to visit our beautiful country and ultimately how to gain their trust.
This truly is a scary crossroad time for tourism in South Africa and my heart breaks for all the good people of all genders, sizes and colours who are suffering through this horrific pandemic.