by Sisonke Mlamla and Lyu Tianran
CAPE TOWN, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- South African tour guide Alfred Magwaca made money by introducing tourists to historic areas in Cape Town, legislative capital of South Africa, through walking or driving. He also did presentations at a museum in Langa.
After experiencing a stagnancy due to the COVID-19 pandemic and seeing some of his colleagues leave the industry, he found a sign of recovery recently.
Recently he led voyagers on a walking tour, where students visited local homes and craftspeople, a traditional medicine healer, and a museum dedicated to the history of Langa under apartheid.
The tourism industry in Cape Town, a popular tourism destination, was expecting its peak season starting from December, when the city is in summer. However, the discovery of Omicron, a new COVID-19 variant, gave Magwaca a blow.
"The industry was starting to pick up, especially now that we are approaching holiday season, but when they announced that a new variant was detected, we lost our hope. Some tourists cancelled their bookings," he told Xinhua in an interview.
Some countries imposed travel bans or tightened restrictions on South Africa due to concerns over the Omicron variant.
Tourists not only benefitted him, but also the economy of local communities, through purchasing goods, food and making donations to local schools, Magwaca said.
"It is a profession we depended on. We hope the tourism department and the government will rethink and offer a relief fund for us," Magwaca said.
Tourism sector accounts for about a quarter of total employment of Cape Town in 2019, according to Cape Town Tourism, the city's official tourism marketing organization.
Provisional figures show the number of foreign tourists to Cape Town declined by some 73 percent in 2020 over 2019 while the number of domestic tourists declined by about 62 percent for the same period, it said.
The organization on Sunday said it will continue to seek ways to support the recovery of the tourism industry amid the emerging of the new variant.
"We will continue to focus on safety and readiness to attract tourists through strong initiatives as soon as the time is right," said its Chief Executive Officer Enver Duminy.
It will continue to encourage the rigour of safety protocols in the run-up to the festive season, which usually saw an influx of foreign holidaymakers before the pandemic, said Duminy, while urging those who are eligible for COVID-19 vaccines to receive the jabs and stay safe and wear mask where possible.
Alderman James Vos, Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member for economic growth, said the travel bans are going to "have a substantial impact on local tourism."
Seeing the impact on individuals such as the stranded passengers at Cape Town international Airport as well as on people working in the hospitality industry has been "heart-breaking," he told Xinhua.
The city official said the local government is constantly assessing the situation which can change rapidly and will take immediate step to contain the virus, adding that he will be meeting with his Tourism Task Team to plot their next steps for containment, adjustment and recovery. Enditem