Rebuilding Tourism

The tourism industry in George, as in many holiday destinations across South Africa and the world, has suffered greatly since the first COVID-19 lockdowns came into effect at the end of March 2020. The local tourism office falls under George Municipality and we tracked down the town’s tourism manager, Joan Shaw, who shared data collated over the past year, as well as a cautiously optimistic outlook for 2022.

Comparing notes

Joan Shaw has been at the helm of George Tourism for many moons, but the past 20-odd months must surely represent one of the biggest challenges anyone in her shoes could possibly have expected to face.

Stats often reveal significant truths, and when looking at occupancy rates for the greater George area during last year’s summer season, these figures tell a dismal tale. The percentages shown represent George, Wilderness and Uniondale, in that order: December 2020 – 31%, 49%, 32%; January 2021 – 25%, 29%, 16%.

This boils down to overall figures for the region sitting at 37% occupancy last December, and 24% during January of this year.

Says Joan: ‘Considering that the beaches, rivers and open areas were closed mid-December and the Garden Route was declared a hotspot, the destination was severely impacted. There was a 25% cancellation rate of the pre-bookings made and an obvious loss on last-minute bookings.’

Although South Africa is suffering greatly after the detection of the Omicron variant was announced by our government, and resulted in renewed international travel bans, the abovementioned hotspot and beach-ban factors should not come into play during the 2021/2 season.

‘We expect occupancy numbers to be substantially higher. The trend in Quarter 4 has been showing that about 30% of bookings are taking place within a zero to 21-day window, so we do expect there to be a surge in last-minute bookings, too,’ she says.

Better, but not brilliant

To date, month-on-month statistics are nowhere close to pre-pandemic levels, but Joan and her team foresee that domestic bookings will increase organically as we move towards the traditional holiday periods, starting on 15 December.

According to Joan, visitors are still wary of Covid-related restrictions and are booking on shorter notice.

A pre-holiday programme was part of the local bureau’s plan to kick-start December activities, and Kingswood Golf Estate was part of this successful and multi-tiered event.

George Tens events get the ball rolling

A festival of golf, rugby, netball, lawn bowls and trail running, the George Tens was held during the first days of December and followed by a celebration of social surf for girls, hosted by Olympic silver medallist and Victoria Bay local, Bianca Buitendag.

This programme is now expected to move seamlessly into traditional seasonal events such as the annual Down to Earth Music Festival and the Pacaltsdorp Night Race, which are supplemented by Christmas markets and smaller events throughout the season.

(Read the story elsewhere in this edition on seasonal events planned for Kingswood to find out more about the enjoyable George Tens day on the KGE course.)

Looking after our own

‘We are expecting some international tourists as various countries are starting to lift their South African travel bans, but domestic visitors will still take the lead in our destination, as many of the countries in our traditional market segment are facing their own Covid lockdowns,’ Joan says.

She concludes that ongoing marketing takes place within the international tourism trade to highlight what George, Wilderness and Uniondale have to offer. Click on www.visitgeorge.co.za for more information on events taking place in George during this month and beyond.

Lighting the way

George Municipality welcomes tourists to George, and, as a signal to the start of the festive season, has been putting up Christmas lights along various main roads.

Although no official event could be planned for the official switching on of the lights this year, mainly due to Covid restrictions, the lights bring holiday cheer to tourists and resident alike, and teams have been working on ensuring that they are fully operational.

Mayor Leon van Wyk switched lights on at Unity Park on Saturday 11 December at 8pm, accompanied by a Covidfriendly posse of colleagues.

On the subject of light and power, the municipality reminded residents that load shedding is essentially Eskom’s inability to provide reliable electricity. In a statement last week, the municipality announced the implementation of a number of energy-saving initiatives, including the commissioning of a new PV Plant at the main municipal building, as well as the conversion of a large part of George’s streetlights and traffic lights to LED. All municipal buildings have already been converted to energy saving lights.

‘George is a holiday town and favourite tourism destination for many, and the switching on of festive lights plays a part in celebrating unity and joy – a symbol of life and happiness,’ said municipal manager Dr Michelle Gratz.

Visitors to George often make a special family trip to view the lights in the different areas of town, and especially to the now famous Denneoord home displays.

‘We have noticed that more communities are joining in on this practice, so if you want to show off your display this year, list your property with George Tourism by sending an e-mail to info@visitgeorge.co.za and they will put you on the viewing list,’ she said.

But best would be for Kingswood residents to first check the rules and regulations with your nearest friendly HOA trustee before stringing up glaring festive lights or erecting a towering neon Santa on your stoep …