As we work on the last daily issue for the year today (December 15) – we’ll be back with our first edition of the new year on January 4 – we’d like to celebrate the industry’s resilience.

It’s been a really tough year, on so many levels. Almost tougher than last year as we lost countless industry friends, colleagues and loved ones to COVID, more tourism businesses closed and many more livelihoods were lost. And then the horror of the riots and unrest which brought more devastation to an already badly impacted industry.

But, battered and bruised, we continued to look forward and fight for the survival of our beloved sector. More tourism heroes rose from the ashes and inspired the rest of us with their unfailing commitment to pull together and work harder to reignite the industry.

And just when we were nearing the end of the year, with some positive forward bookings and we thought, “wow, we made it!” we were shocked to the core as all major source markets slammed the door on us with their knee-jerk reactions and harsh travel bans following South African scientists’ breakthrough identification of the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron.

But there’s a glimmer of hope after the UK became the first to remove 11 African countries from its controversial red list, to remove the need to quarantine in a government approved hotel and to even admit that its red list was not effective against the spread of Omicron.

So, tourism lives to fight another day.

Here’s to a great festive season and cautious optimism for a good 2022.

Stay safe, and catch you on the flip side!

The Tourism Update team