Webinar series launched to support tourism sector

On Thursday (30 July 2020), the Department of Economic Development and Tourism will be hosting the first of its five-part weekly webinar series for the tourism sector that aims to provide support and advice on opening safely during the Covid-19 pandemic.

This tourism webinar series is one of the many ways we are working hard to support the tourism sector, which has been hard-hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Alert Level 3 restrictions, and is facing significant job losses in the Western Cape.

Featuring prominent local and international experts from the tourism sector, the tourism webinar series will cover the following topics:

• 30 July: Destination Readiness – This webinar will focus on opening safely and the Covid-19 health and safety protocols for tourism businesses developed by industry bodies such as TBCSA, SATSA, FEDHASA and AAVEA.
• 06 August: Exhibitions – This webinar will focus on the future of trade and consumer exhibitions given the global pandemic and economic downturn and what destinations can do to support recovery.
• 13 August: Business Travel – This webinar will focus on international best practice in business travel and opening safely during the Covid-19 pandemic.
• 20 August: Global Destination Best Practice – This webinar will focus on international best practice to guide plans for a new normal, and ideas on how to pivot to attract visitors when destinations are ready to open.
• 27 August: Destination Reputation Management – This webinar will focus on addressing challenges around destination brand reputation during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tourism is a major contributor to the economy and employment in the Western Cape. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in the Western Cape, we have been engaging actively with the tourism sector to understand the impact of Covid-19 and to work with them to prepare the industry to be able to open safely and responsibly.

The launch of the tourism webinar series follows the announcement on the 15 July of the Tourism Product Development Fund which commits a total of R5 million to support new or existing tourism products and experiences in the Western Cape.

We have also actively engaged national government on the responsible re-opening of the tourism economy where we believe it is safe to do so, such as accommodation for leisure for travel within provinces.

And so, I would like to encourage all interested tourism businesses and organisations to join the tourism webinar series, so that we can work together to implement and enforce the necessary health and safety measures to reduce the spread of Covid-19, and ensure our businesses stay open in the Western Cape.

For more information and to register for the tourism webinar series, please visit https://www.westerncape.gov.za/node/54781