Following the implementation of several travel restrictions in and out of South Africa in response to the newly discovered COVID-19 variant Omicron, South African National Parks (SANParks) has put plans in place to deal with booking amendments from various countries around the world.
This is according to SANParks, Managing Executive Tourism Development and Marketing, Hapiloe Sello, who said these unfortunate developments call for a proactive approach to minimise adverse impacts on clients.
“We have decided that booked clients from the countries that have introduced travel bans to South Africa will not be charged fees or penalties for amendments and postponements for a 12 month period, starting from November 26, until such time as the travel bans are lifted,” she said.
“We encourage guests to opt for SANParks to retain their deposit payments until they are certain about their travel plans and to only consider cancellations and refunds as a last resort,” added Sello.
She said cancellations due to other reasons outside of travel bans will continue to be subjected to the standard cancellation terms and conditions.
“We want to assure our visitors, particularly local travellers that our national parks remain open and are quite likely amongst the safest destinations to travel to.”