Young travelers are hungry for adventure, and it’s taking them to Africa.
25.08.2023 - 13:56 / skift.com / Selene Brophy
South Africa’s power crisis has gone from bad to worse, as ongoing blackouts since 2007 are now a daily occurrence, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.
So how do you promote tourism with widespread blackouts?
The country’s tourism sector, worth an estimated $27.4 billion pre-Covid, is pushing towards full recovery, but with the ongoing energy crisis doing it no favors.
Tourist arrival numbers might be 153 percent up compared to 2021, with 5.7 million visitors to the country in 2022. Yet, it remains 44 percent below pre-Covid levels of 10.23 million visitors in 2019.
Persistent power cuts in 2022, estimated to cost the economy at least $54 million ( R1-billion) a day, according to energy and mineral resources minister Gwede Mantashe, has forced the country’s hospitality and tourism industries to proactively source alternative energy and adapt to ensure that the guest experience remains uncompromised.
This has meant investing in costly diesel generators for one, which eats away at any potential profits. Conversely, large parts of the sector have seen the disruption as the right time implement sustainability goals in the face of Eskom’s failing coal infrastructure.
As result, the more load they can take of the national energy grid and convert into renewable energy, the better.
The V&A Waterfront, South Africa’s most visited attraction, which usually sees over 24 million visitors per year, and was at 80 percent of its usual footfall October 2022. As a precinct adjacent to Cape Town harbour, it has been investing in energy efficiency since 2008, adding $2 million in solar systems and leading to a 35 percent decrease in overall energy consumption.
As another example, Cape Town’s Table Mountain Cableway Company, part of the city’s Big Six attractions, has invested in a hydraulic backup motor that kicks in during load shedding to replace the electric motor that operates its cable cars. Cape Point, however, which does not have backup power for its funicular ride, and has since seen a drop in tickets sales for this part of the attraction.
Cape Town is no stranger to enduring a scarce resource crisis, suffering a severe drought in 2018. However, the ongoing power cuts do not bode well for its appeal to digital nomads with a possible remote working visa. The post pandemic trend has only grown in popularity to boost destinations appeal and tourism revenue, as detailed by Skift’s mega trends for 2023.
“Load shedding is one of Cape Town’s challenges in recovering its allure for foreign and domestic tourists and has had a knock-on effect on various tourism sectors, including jet fuel supply,” said Enver Duminy, CEO at Cape Town Tourism.
He added that while Cape Town boasts an incredibly
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