Since the country moved to a level three lockdown, South African hotels have recorded climbing occupancies.
This is projected to improve further now that South Africa is on level one, according to Niels Verspui, Country Manager for hotel management software company, RoomRaccoon. “Now that the industry is placed in the spotlight and is opening up for business - hoteliers need to make hay (and bookings) while the sun shines.”
According to pre-Covid-19 stats released by the World Travel & Tourism Council, the tourism industry annually generated more than U$200 billion in Africa, accounting for 6,9% of Africa’s GDP and supporting more than 24 million jobs.
“This shows the potential that the industry has for local hoteliers, and it is vital that they are supported to operate at full capacity in the near future,” said Verspui.
“This can be made possible as more locals embark on staycations and people both locally and abroad receive their COVID-19 vaccinations, meaning sooner than later South Africa will become a popular tourist destination once again,” he said. “
Verspui noted that while the pandemic was still a reality, travellers were seeking value, economic stability, transparency in bookings, and flexibility of hospitality properties.
With this in mind, he provides three tips to assist hoteliers as they gear-up for an increase in business:
- Enable flexible rates: Considering the current uncertainty, travellers are now looking for flexibility and are willing to make last-minute bookings as the situation evolves. For example, it was recently reported by McKinsey & Company that more than 90% of recent trips in China were booked within seven days of the trip itself. To accommodate this, hoteliers should extend their cancellation policies flexibility to one day before arrival or even the day of arrival.
- Offer the non-refundable alternative: Offering a lower non-refundable option with a different rate from the flexible one, allows hoteliers to reach more customers. As travelling for business continues during these volatile times, travellers may prefer to have the booking payment handled by their company and a non-refundable rate would be more appealing.
- Update rates and availability for the next 12 months: Even though we are still experiencing a great deal of uncertainty, data by Vacaay has indicated a 520% increase in Europeans adding South Africa to their upcoming travel itineraries. (This was compiled before the UK opened up for its citizens to freely travel to South Africa without quarantine). It’s for this reason that hoteliers should update their rates and availability for the next 12 months so that it will be visible on all their potential customers' searches. Additionally, hoteliers can set up an automated system to increase rates when demand increases.
To meet the growing number of travel guests during these uncertain times, Verspui pointed out that local hoteliers were continuing to search for innovative technology and hotel management software to bolster their bottom line and increase online visibility.
“As the world continues to combat COVID-19, it is now more important than ever for local hoteliers to prepare for business to boom. It is also vital to implement ways to streamline operations and boost profit now, and in the future. This is just the beginning of good things to come,” he said.
