A year after the COVID-19 pandemic engulfed the world, the travel industry is slowly starting to regain momentum. While tourism to South Africa has dropped dramatically, domestic travel has reached up to 25% of pre-Covid level travel volumes – almost double that of regional and international air travel volumes, according to South African Tourism’s Road to Recovery report published in March.

Domestic travel

It is no surprise that a focus on domestic travel is the natural precursor to restoring the travel industry to pre-Covid levels. Comair has restructured the airline after it entered business rescue due to lockdown, while low-cost carrier kulula.com flights resumed domestic flight operations on 01 April for the first time in 12 months, while FlySafair, Cemair, and Airlink continue to ramp up operations.

The number of light vehicles on the roads has only been 10% and 20% lower than in 2019, indicating a preference for road travel as opposed to air. Accommodation income is 60% lower than in 2019, partly due to reduced occupancy, but also since average daily rates are 25% lower than last year.

International travel

International travel to South Africa is about 90% lower than last year. But we are not alone – this is in line with the global average of between a 70-90% reduction in air traffic volumes. See how air travel across Europe has been impacted on this video that depicts statistics release by Eurocontrol. Watch the video here.

BCD is the first travel management company to become a member of the Good Health Pass Collaborative representing corporate clients’ interests in pushing for the standardization and scalability of digital health passes.  

As the landscape evolves, we remain committed to helping our clients adapt their travel programs and policies.