“Observing the COVID-19 measures while traveling has discouraged people from holidaying,’ said Moses Bunyi, a Manager at Muthaiga Travels Limited Kenya. Industry players in South Africa are also bearing the brunt as the country extends coronavirus restrictions, citing a “massive increase” in Covid-19 cases driven by a variant discovered there last year. “Tourism in South Africa is one of the greatest contributors to GDP (of about 9%) hence the reduction and lack of tourists has affected the tourism industry by a revenue loss of over 40 billion,” said Rofhiwa Madzene, a business journalist in South Africa. European Union countries are among the largest contributors to international tourism in South Africa and the travel ban has greatly affected the tourism industry. South Africa has reported at least 1,246,643 Covid-19 cases, including 33,579 deaths, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.

Source: Daily Nation January 12, 2021 07:56 UTC