Government needs to do everything it can to smooth the path for the tourism and hospitality industry to be able to capitalise strongly on the 2022/2023 summer trade so that the sector can redeem its financial integrity.

This was the message from Rosemary Anderson, Chair of hospitality association, FEDHASA, in response to the latest Statistics South Africa data showing that – measured in nominal terms (current prices) – total income for the tourist accommodation industry increased by 50.1% in June 2022 compared with June 2021.

She said it was “heartening” to see that the hospitality sector was showing good year-on-year growth but added, however, that this was off a very low base, comparing it with June 2021 – a time when COVID-19 restrictions had had a severely detrimental effect on the industry, leading to closures and job losses. 

Minister of Tourism, Lindiwe Sisulu, agreed that government needed to focus on stimulating recovery. She said, in reaction to last month’s growth: “We need to guard the gains we have made in fostering the recovery of our sector, and more collaborative efforts to manage the effects of the COVID-19 crisis are required. We cannot afford loss of confidence in our sector and country at this critical stage.”

She said she would continue to engage relevant stakeholders to understand the issues and seek solutions.

The StatsSA data showed that:

• Income from accommodation increased by 67.1% year-on-year in June 2022, the result of a 43.1% increase in the number of stay unit nights sold and a 16.7% increase in the average income per stay unit night sold.
• In June 2022, the largest contributors to the 67.1% year-on-year increase in income from accommodation were:
  • hotels (contributing 52.2 percentage points); and ‘other’ accommodation (contributing 12.1 percentage points).
• Income from accommodation increased by 56.7% in the second quarter of 2022 compared with the second quarter of 2021. The main contributors to this increase were:
  • hotels (contributing 42.4 percentage points); and ‘other’ accommodation (contributing 12 percentage points).