The tourism sector has been adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. This ranges from the from SMEs to the international sector players including the airlines, the hotel industry, travel agencies and other associated players. Many African countries are tourist destinations thus must have been dented by the lock downs and closure of airspaces. Upon opening though, a lot of domestic tourism has been promoted.
Connective Cities sought to understand the nature of the impact on the sector players and some of the measures being put in place to cushion against the negative impacts and future pandemics.
With the knowledge that a lot of the players in this sector come from the private sector, little wonder it is that the 11 participants were drawn from the private sector. This was a moderated session and the examples from Mpumalanga in South Africa, those from Asia and the global perspective on response to the pandemic gave a clear picture of the impacts and response measures. In this session we sought to answer these questions:
Tourism recovery process- the case for Mpumalanga Province, South Africa
Mr. Oupa Pilane
Covid-19 and the tourism crisis: how some municipal authorities around the world are supporting tourism sector recovery
Ms. Jennifer Bartlett
Responding to Covid-19 challenges- how Nepal’s tourism sector is finding its way out
Deepak Adhikary