NAIROBI, Kenya
East Africa Community (EAC) partner states are estimated to have lost international tourism receipts to the tune of $4.8billion (Ksh. 517.6billion) last year, following the Covid-19 pandemic.
This
follows a study by the East African Business Council (EABC) with the support of
the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) and Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation.
The
study was aimed at assessing the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism and
hospitality industry and policy options to protect sector players from COVID-19
disruptions and future pandemics.
The
study reveals that tourism which contributed an average of 9.5% in GDP in 2019
and an average of 17.2% to EAC total exports, was one of the most affected
areas in the region. This was reflected in massive reductions in international
tourist arrivals, receipts, jobs, visitors to parks and hotel occupancy rates.
From
March 2020 when the first cases of Covid-19 were reported in the region, the
report reveals that 4.2 Million foreign tourists were unable to travel to their
preferred destinations in the bloc.
This
saw a dip of about 2 million jobs, from the about 4.1 million jobs recorded in
2019 to 2.2 million jobs by the end of the year.
The study also revealed that visitors to national parks
declined significantly by about 65%, impacting negatively wildlife conservation
efforts in the region.
The study also shows that hotels in the region registered average occupancy rates of below 30% thus affecting their operations significantly including maintaining staff.
An
online survey conducted as part of the study indicated that 26.5% of the
businesses lost their entire projected revenues during the pandemic period, 44%
lost 75% of their projected revenue and 17.6% lost 50% of their projected
revenues.
The
respondents indicated that 35% reduced staff by more than 50%, 20% reduced
staff by below and up to 50%, 32% maintained staff at partial pay and only 8%
maintained all staff at full pay.
The
report indicates that businesses turned to borrowing to fund their running
expenditures such as rent and utilities due to reduced operational capital
while the loss of jobs saw a decline in household incomes,
Speaking
during a webinar validating the studies, Mr. Dennis Karera, EABC Vice Chairman
noted that the study will contribute to developing macro-economic policy
options for consideration and adoption by EAC Partner States.
“
Adopting an EAC coordinated approach in reviving the tourism sector by
marketing the region as a single tourist destination, opening EAC skies,
rolling out national-wide vaccination drives and mutual recognition of COVID-19
test certificates in the region is certainly critical,” he said.
The
Study recommended for tourism destinations to have pandemic preparedness and
risk management plans to minimize such instances in the future.
The
report also revealed that the tourism stakeholders are calling for the
sustaining of stimulus packages provided by EAC Governments to re-engineer and
re-define the tourism products by also leveraging digital technologies in
tourism marketing and promotion. – Citizen TV
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