News24
15 Jul 2020, 02:42 GMT+10
Minister of Tourism Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane told Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Tourism that the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the tourism sector did not go unnoticed, as government's immediate interventions involved limiting the movements of people.
"The risk-adjusted approach puts more responsibility on the tourism sector. Limited movements have been allowed and curfews and the ban on the trade of alcohol is expected to have an impact as well," said Kubayi-Ngubane.
SA Tourism CFO Nombulelo Guliwe said the entity's total revenue of R1.5 billion was revised downward to R438 million, due to a reduction in the allocated transfer to the department of R826 million. There was also a downward revision in projected exhibition income and levy fees, she said.
"This would be the revenue or credit side of things. On the debit side, we have, at a programme level, various adjustments." Guliwe added that due to the change in revenue, there was a "corresponding revision on the investing side" which was reflected in the budget.
Guliwe said SA Tourism had a business enablement programme, which seeks to align operations to the strategic objectives of re-igniting tourism demand, rejuvenating supply and building an enabling capability for the sector to start up again once restrictions were eased.
"The business enablement programme is responsible to ensure strategy development, and to provide centralised research insights and analytics to support the core business and provide an open source for information-sharing with the tourism sector to strengthen collaboration with the tourism industry," said Guliwe.
READ | SA is tops for tourists post-Covid - whenever that day comes
Guliwe SA Tourism had frozen non-essential vacancies, but added that curtailing the cost of compensation was already on the cards before the pandemic. Compensation of employees will be adjusted from R243 million to R237 million.
"There have been discussions about looking at the staff composition, even before the pandemic. We looked at what we needed to do as SA Tourism to be efficient. We highlighted projects we have to do to ensure we have a policy environment aligned to that of government," she said.
SA Tourism CEO Sisa Ntshona said: "SA Tourism, through the department, will continue to monitor the environment with National Treasury. Upon readiness of the sector based on the risk-adjusted approach, the department shall motivate to the National Treasury to consider resourcing tourism's recovery efforts from a marketing and development point of view."
SA Tourism chief marketing officer Mzilikazi Khumalo said when leisure tourism opens up, SA Tourism should be able to meet the demand from tourists and tourism businesses by consolidating events calendar and alignment of all of the Tourism SA's campaigns.
Last week the Financial and Fiscal Commission told Parliament that while Covid-19 grounded the tourism sector, it was vital that in outer years government prioritise as a prime provider of opportunities for employment and growth.
Get a daily dose of Business Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Business Sun.
More InformationNEW YORK CITY, New York: Bitcoin surged to a new all-time high this week, buoyed by growing institutional interest and a wave of pro-crypto...
LONDON, U.K.: American consumers and businesses could soon face the highest overall tariff burden in more than a century, according...
SHENZHEN, China: As global chip competition intensifies, Huawei Technologies is exploring new markets in the Middle East and Southeast...
LONDON/NEW YORK CITY: American grocery bills may be headed higher as coffee and orange juice prices face upward pressure from new tariffs...
BATTLE CREEK, Michigan: In a major consolidation of iconic food brands, WK Kellogg has agreed to be acquired by the owner of Ferrero...
NEW DELHI, India: India has submitted a revised proposal to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva to implement retaliatory tariffs...
BRUSSELS, Belgium: Meta is holding firm on its controversial pay-or-consent model, a move that could lead to fresh antitrust charges...
SHENZHEN, China: As global chip competition intensifies, Huawei Technologies is exploring new markets in the Middle East and Southeast...
SAN FRANCISCO, California: Nvidia, the Silicon Valley chipmaker at the heart of the artificial intelligence boom, this week briefly...
REDMOND, Washington: Artificial intelligence is transforming Microsoft's bottom line. The company saved over US$500 million last year...
BASTROP, Texas: In a surprising turn at Elon Musk's X platform, CEO Linda Yaccarino announced she is stepping down, just months after...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: An elaborate impersonation scheme involving artificial intelligence targeted senior U.S. and foreign officials in...