South Africa’s tourism and safari sectors under chaos after the discovery of Omicron

Soon after Omicron was discovered in Africa, all the countries around the world started imposing travel restrictions on South Africa. The recent travel bans have thrown the tourism industry into chaos. From India and the United States to Australia and the UK.

Though the situation is serious, experts still feel that the travel ban is not required. The tourism industry in South Africa contributed around 3 percent of GDP. But the new travel bans have created a huge problem, given this was the recovery time for the already struggling sector.
This has also impacted the safari sector of the African continent. Recent travel bans on South Africa and neighboring countries have hampered the country’s safari business immensely. The country was already hard hit by the pandemic but now with the discovery of Omicron, things look grimmer.

"The threat of the fourth wave and new mutation of the #coronavirus resulting from the recently discovered variant potentially looms large in the horizon." @DDMabuza #SanacPlenary

— Presidency | South Africa 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) November 27, 2021

In 2020, South Africa’s tourism industry experienced more than 70 percent drop in foreign tourists due to the pandemic. In 2019, around 15 million tourists visited the country but in 2020, the number dropped to less than 5 million.

In South Africa, 4.7 percent of the workforce is involved in tourism and safari businesses. Britain, which happened to be one of the biggest sources of tourists to South Africa, removed its travel restrictions on African nations in October. Things were just getting better for safari operators amid the holiday season and new year plans but then Omicron happened and created chaos.