HGOLI

My thoughts too. I am keeping an eye on the other countries, and to be honest, if they open up much sooner, my money is as good there as it is in SA. How the (private) lodges etc around Kruger wil surivive at previous levels without international tourists for almost a year is difficult to imagine, as I suspect the overseas visitor makes up a good proportion of visitors. I had 6 weeks booked in KNP, 3 weeks this May (canx), and 3 wks in Nov, which at first I was a little hopeful about, but that's also about to be canx very soon.

johan rebel

Yeah, I suspect that foreigners account for well over 90% of private lodge visitors.

I have several friends who run lowveld lodges.

The one lodge is family owned and run, which makes it bit easier to hang tight and survive on a shoestring. It also helps that the lodge has been consistently profitable for many years and well-managed on a tight budget. What sucks is that they had just completed a second lodge, which was due to open tomorrow!

The other friends run a lodge that used to be a family camp. The owners went commercial to defray the costs of owning a large property in a private game reserve, but are affluent enough to sing it out.

Johan

johan rebel

In theory the answer is yes, it is a well-run, privately owned and independent airline. However, given the C-19 mess and the way the government in handling it, it is anybody's guess which local airlines will survive, if any.

Johan

johan rebel

Tanzania is leading the pack:

"Effective 18 May 2020, the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania has lifted the suspension of international scheduled and non-scheduled passenger flights into and out of United Republic of Tanzania which has been in effect since 11 April 2020. This therefore means, international commercial flight operations are resumed. All travelers whether foreigners or returning residents entering or leaving the United Republic of Tanzania will be subjected to enhanced screening for COVID-19 infection. There will be no 14 days mandatory quarantine."

Source

Johan

johan rebel

But with international borders closed and no overnight stays permitted, that will be restricted to local biltong jagters wat een bokkie kom skiet. Not exactly the most profitable segment.

As an aside, I would not mind at all if all those canned lion hunting outfits go bankrupt.

Johan

johan rebel

Airlink to Resume Flights

Johan

johan rebel

Apologies for going off a bit on a tangent here, but it is becoming more and more obvious that nobody really knows what works. Not the experts, and certainly not the politicians who are ostensibly in charge.

"Norway's prime minister Erna Solberg went on Norwegian television to make a startling admission: she had panicked. Some, even most, of the tough measures imposed in Norway's lockdown now looked like steps too far. "Was it necessary to close schools?" she mused. "Perhaps not ... I probably took many of the decisions out of fear," she admitted."

Source

Wow! A politician who admits she might have been wrong? Who would have thought it? I bet all the others will defend their decisions and policies until their dying day.

Johan

Ditto

That's impressive indeed, and no doubt that many things are still unknown about C-19.
I think many countries are at a point where the economic damage is far greater than that of C-19, everyone is worried about having to self-isolate for 2 weeks should they find out they've been in the vicinity of a confirmed case.

Meanwhile in ZA Ramaphosa recently said that scientists advised the country should go to level 1 of the lock down (which should, among other things, allow for international travel and tourism to operate) however "the government" has decided against it based on advice from the WHO.
https://www.news24.com/news24/southa...phosa-20200531

mattp1987

I don't know that politicians should have to apologize for heeding the advice of medical experts when dealing with a novel virus. Presumably, they were working off the best information available, mostly coming from China and Italy (with information from China presenting its own problems). One can admit that they efforts were overly restrictive, but I don't think it's a good precedent to set to ignore scientific data, even if it's limited, in a dynamic situation like the early stages of the pandemic presented.

This would be a prime example of a government ignoring scientific/medical advice.

I just want to say thanks again to all those keeping us apprised of the developing situation.

johan rebel

Yeah, but in Norway and Denmark the experts advised against closing schools, and then the politicians went ahead and closed them anyway.

Johan

mattp1987

That makes a lot more sense now. Thank you.

johan rebel

"Despite the easing of restrictions on air travel under lockdown level three, Comair is unlikely to start operating again before November this year.The company’s business rescue practitioners (BRPs), Shaun Collyer and Richard Ferguson, said the resumption of operations now would require securing fuel suppliers and covering numerous other costs that the airline would not be able to without a significant cash injection."

Source

So all they need to do is find somebody actually willing to invest in the airline. Good luck with that!

Johan

Flame3601

South African High Court rules that Level 3 current lockdown and previous Level 4 was/is unconstitutional and invalid, Government has 14 days to make changes to the lockdown that doesn’t violate South African rights. This was announced this evening local time. Will be interesting to see what transpires with this. Level 3 is really back to a lot of normal activities, with the odd long line or inconveniences along the way. A lot of people really getting slack with social distancing etc with people they know like friends. I reckon infection rates are going to rocket unreported, and with a heavy increase in reported cases. I believe that many people will get symptoms and not get a test and just continue as normal unless they really feel like they need to seek medical care.

Ditto

Of course, when the government allows 50 people to go to a funereal or a church, what do you expect will happen? That was one of the points in the judge's criticism about the government allowing so many people to travel all the way across the country "armed with death certificates" yet they can't go visit a loved one while they are still alive.

I suppose it doesn't help that the WC just announced that you can now only get tested if you are either 55+ or have comorbidities, "If you're younger than 55 and you have symptoms, assume you have Covid-19... After 14 days, you'll be fine... There's no purpose in getting a test"
https://www.news24.com/news24/southa...ested-20200602

johan rebel

Another brilliant plan!

"The proposed phased recovery strategy provides for an initial six- to eight-week preparation phase, followed by a phase 1 trial period where safe source markets with similar risk profiles and stages of pandemic would be allowed to travel to South Africa. These travellers would be vetted, all stringent safety protocols would be in place and the focus would be on low-contact product and low-risk areas, traditionally with low density."

Source

Hey folks! Come to South Africa! But only if you live in a safe source market, and only if you have been vetted, and only if you follow all stringent safety protocols, and only if you stay away from the locals. And remember, this is only a trial period, what happens after that is anybody's guess.

Gosh, the airlines' websites will crash due to the deluge of customers rushing to buy tickets to SA, especially because the most important source markets, the UK and the US, will no doubt be deemed safe from day 1!

Johan