Since the opening of inter-provincial travel at Level 2 lockdown, South African National Parks (SANParks) is having to actively manage the bookings in its system to accommodate a policy of 50% occupancy.
Reynold Thakhuli, SANParks acting head of communications, told Travel News that uptake was so high that the website crashed last weekend with people trying to amend their bookings to ensure that they still had their reservation.
In a release published on August 18, ceo, Fundisile Mketeni, said: “SANParks will be obligated to amend or cancel bookings in parks and camps that are currently booked beyond that capacity and, in addition, to reject new bookings that may lead to operating above the regulated 50 percent threshold.”
According to the release, the reservations team is on hand to assist, reallocating long-standing bookings from one camp to another within the same park to ensure that all parks are operating inside the law at all times.
In cases where a paid forward booking has to be cancelled, SANParks will apply a LIFO (last-in-first-out) principle, “implying that the person that booked earlier will receive preference over someone that booked later,” said Fundisile.
Reynold said full refunds were available but there was also the option to create a credit. Alternative bookings can be made with this credit; terms and conditions apply.
Affected guests will be contacted and offered alternative facilities or alternative dates and guests will not be charged cancellation fees if an eventual cancellation occurs and is due to COVID-19-related circumstances
