Tourism resilience and challenges in Limpopo, South Africa: A post-COVID-19 analysis

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the impact, recovery and resilience of COVID-19 on South Africa's Limpopo Province's tourism industry. The study utilises surveys (n = 115) and interviews (n = 50) to examine the impact, recovery, resilience, success and challenges of various tourism-related businesses, including national parks, restaurants, and hotels. Despite minimal government support and significant challenges like erratic utilities, high inflation, and a global economic downturn, the sector showed resilience, with few business failures. While some businesses in the accommodation sector diversified into areas like student accommodation, some survived by cutting the number of staff, tapping into savings, borrowing and adopting various cost containment measures to survive the pandemic. Post the pandemic, the sector faces issues like decreased demand due to technological changes in meetings and conferences and employee mental health concerns. The study underscores the need for strategic management and specific policy interventions to ensure the sector's resilience and survival post-pandemic.

KEYWORDS:

• Pandemic
• recovery challenges
• SDGs
• tourism economy
• employee wellness

1. Introduction

The global economic landscape has been profoundly altered by the COVID-19 pandemic, with significant repercussions for both developed and developing countries. This seismic shift has been particularly evident in the tourism industry, which experienced unprecedented disruptions. Key segments of the industry, including airlines, hotels, and tourist destinations, were dramatically impacted as operations ceased due to health concerns and travel restrictions (Dube, 2022; Pachucki et al., 2022; Chikodzi & Dube, 2023; Shava & Shava, 2023). The pandemic's onset disrupted both the demand and supply sides of the tourism industry, with many potential travellers associating travel with heightened health risks (Rahman et al., 2021), especially among those with pre-existing health conditions (Gansevoort & Hilbrands, 2020).

The pandemic's ripple effects have been far-reaching, extending to emotional and social costs within the tourism value chain (Qiu et al., 2020; Herby et al., 2022) and impeding progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Elsamadony et al., 2022). As the industry contemplates recovery in the post-COVID-19 era, scholars debate the trajectory of this recovery. Some posit a paradigm shift towards tourism degrowth (Fletcher et al., 2020; Butcher, 2021), while others express concerns over the enduring challenges for businesses, particularly in the global south, which grapple with accumulated debts, inadequate resources (Muresherwa et al., 2022; Simo, 2023), and a sluggish revival of the international tourism market.

Emerging from the pandemic, new and unforeseen challenges have surfaced, such as labour shortages, strikes, climate change impacts, inflation, and geopolitical tensions like the Ukraine-Russia war (Hoang et al., 2023; Ndhlovu & Dube, 2023a). These factors complicate recovery efforts and render economic forecasts increasingly uncertain.

Given the diverse impacts of the pandemic and the varying effectiveness of response measures across different regions, it is essential to understand the specific challenges and recovery mechanisms at a more localised level. This study delves into the impact of COVID-19 on the Limpopo tourism sector in South Africa, exploring the region's responses, challenges, and emergent opportunities. By examining Limpopo's experience, this research aims to provide valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders, offering a detailed analysis of survival strategies and recovery challenges. This investigation into the response efficacy at sub-national levels is vital for shaping future disaster response strategies and informing ongoing policy and planning within the tourism sector. Tourism practitioners can use the study's findings to provide necessary support and intervention measures to ensure a thriving tourism enterprise going forward. The study also assists in informing response should such a pandemic occur.

1.1. A literature survey

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted the global tourism industry, attracting the attention of academics, policymakers, and various stakeholders. This extensive disruption affected multiple sub-sectors, including airports, conservancies, hotels, restaurants, tour operators, national parks, and heritage sites, bringing the industry to an almost complete standstill in 2020, as evidenced by studies (Karunarathne et al., 2021; Kumar & Ekka, 2023). For example, Sri Lanka's tourism sector, which had already grappled with past disasters, encountered further challenges during the pandemic (Karunarathne et al., 2021). Similarly, Brunei's agritourism faced severe impacts, disrupting activities ranging from farming to cultural events, adversely affecting the tourism economy (Chin & Musa, 2021). In Jordan, the COVID-19 pandemic led to significant job losses in the tourism industry (Al-Qadi et al., 2023).

In response to these challenges, various resilience (the capacity to withstand or recover quickly from difficulties) strategies and adaptations emerged. The concept of resilience is deeply embedded in ecology, where the term describes the positive response to return to an original form after a shock such as a drought by an ecological system (Cumming, et al., 2015; Biggs et al., 2020). Like any other business, the tourism sector views resilience as ‘the intrinsic ability of objects, places, and people to absorb and recover from external stressors’ (Amore et al., 2018:235).

Diversification and digital transformation became key, with Brunei's farms shifting to virtual tourism and online marketing (Chin & Miusa, 2021; Noorashid & Chin, 2021). Training programmes were also initiated in Sri Lanka and Brunei to aid recovery (Karunarathne et al., 2021; Chin & Miusa, 2021). Additionally, Sri Lanka's government supported the tourism sector through loan schemes and visa extensions, promoting domestic tourism and adaptive planning (Karunarathne et al., 2021).

Government policies were crucial in supporting tourism SMEs to build resilience and adaptation. In countries like Iran, disaster management planning and changes to marketing strategies were highlighted as critical in fostering resilience (Estiri et al., 2022). The MICE tourism subsector in South Africa adapted and built resilience through cost re-evaluation and virtual events (Lekgau & Tichaawa, 2022). Meanwhile, tourist guides in Gauteng Province employed survival strategies like cost-cutting and seeking alternative employment, mirroring similar trends in Tanzania, where women in tourism shifted to less volatile sectors (Maliva et al., 2024). In other spaces, such as the Western Cape, tourism recovery and resilience building were predicated on adopting a raft of health and safety measures which were certified by international bodies such as the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) (Dube, 2022). The COVID-19 vaccine later buttressed these measures and provided a solid foundation for the tourism sector’s resilience-building adaptation and recovery (Mashapa & Dube, 2023).

In addition to the above, the Western Cape Provincial Government went out in its quest to promote domestic and international travel through various campaigns and marketing strategies. Ndhlovu and Dube (2023b) that the stimulus packages that were extended by governments and the adoption of mergers by other tourism entities assisted in building tourism resilience and adaptation in South Africa at the height of COVID-19. Mearns et al. (2023) argued that resilience in wildlife tourism was achieved by tapping into the domestic tourism market and constructing public-private partnerships. Kupika and Dube (2023) noted that in as much as the sector had proved resilient to the adverse impacts of COVID-19, there is ample evidence of challenges that face the tourism industry in its quest to recover from the pandemic ranging from geo-political turmoil to extreme weather events that the sector had to deal with to ensure sustainability.

The pandemic also offered opportunities for learning and development towards sustainable and resilient tourism practices. Seabra and Bhatt (2022) suggest that such crises can catalyse the industry to adopt more sustainable solutions. This notion was echoed in the challenges faced by national parks, like South Africa's Kruger National Park, which had to reevaluate its revenue strategies (Chakrabarti & Ekblom, 2023). Heritage tourism in Sub-Saharan Africa also experienced a decline in tourist arrivals and maintenance challenges at heritage sites (Giliberto & Labadi, 2023). Airports and related infrastructure were similarly affected due to lockdowns and reduced travel.

The forthcoming section of this literature review will focus on research methodology. This section aligns with the study's objectives to understand the pandemic's impact on the tourism sector, specifically focusing on the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The chosen methodology aims to generate and analyse data to comprehensively understand the challenges and resilience strategies within the tourism sector during the pandemic.

1.2. Research methodology

The study utilised a convergent mixed method approach, comprising open and closed questionnaires and data from in-depth interviews conducted between January and February 2023. The approach was preferred as it saved time and financial resources by facilitating the simultaneous collection of qualitative and quantitative data in one go. Data were collected in Thabazimbi and surrounding areas and Polokwane urban areas. These places fall within the Limpopo province, which is located in the Northern Part of South Africa. The province shared borders with Northwest, Gauteng and Mpumalanga provinces. It also shares a border with Botswana to the west, Zimbabwe to the North, and Mozambique to the Northeast. The sites were chosen because of their accessibility and convenience to the researchers. Once the researchers were in the identified towns for research, a census survey and convenient sampling techniques were used to approach businesses to participate in the interviews. The researchers moved door–to–door in all tourism establishments in the identified areas to request permission to conduct research identified through signage. The technique was adopted to ensure coverage of as many tourism businesses as possible and to ensure a variety of responses. The approach is acceptable and used in previous studies (Orchard & Hickford, 2018).

The data collection exercise included face-to-face interviews with key informants such as tourism business owners, business managers, and supervisors who oversee the business's day-to-day management and running. The key informants were targeted for interviews, given their broad knowledge and experience acquired during the pandemic. These informants were deemed competent interviewees who could confidently answer the research questions. Their account of events was considered highly credible as they dealt with business issues during the pandemic. Broadly, interview questions centred on operational logistics of business during and after COVID-19, an account of challenges and opportunities during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The respondents were also requested to provide an account of strategies businesses employed to navigate the challenges posed by the pandemic. An interview guide was used with 10 standard questions piloted before being administered. Field experts developed the questionnaire, and the only adjustment made after the pilot was a reduction in the number of questions to reduce the time taken to conduct interviews and reduce respondent fatigue. A probing approach was adopted to ensure clarity of issues and follow up on issues the respondent might have left unanswered. The researchers followed the dictates set up by Jarbandhan and Schutte (2006).

Interviews were also conducted with tourism associations in Thabazimbi, Game Hunting Association Representatives and youth entrepreneurs in the study areas. Only managers working before and during the pandemic were considered for the interviews. Interviews were conducted at business sites and ordinarily took between 30 and 60 min. A total of 50 interviews were conducted during this period. Notes and recordings of interviews were made, and participation was voluntary through informed verbal consent.

In addition to interviews, an online QuestionPro self-administered questionnaire survey was also used to collect data. Open- and close-ended questions were used to gain insights into the impact of COVID-19, along with the challenges and resilience of the business in the post-pandemic period. The questionnaire survey extended invitations to 149 prospective respondents. A total of 114 completed surveys. Of those, there were 144 responses, resulting in a completion rate of 79.17%. The data were collected in two sampling sites, namely, Thabazimbi and Polokwane urban areas. Data were collected from hotels, restaurants, beauty parlours, lodges, national parks, airports, and other tourism establishments. The study respondents came from the broad sectors shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Sectoral distribution of respondents. Mean: 5.857 Confidence Interval @ 95%: [5.562–6.152] Standard Deviation: 1.593 Standard Error: 0.151.

The data were analysed using both qualitative and quantitative research techniques. The online questionnaire data were analysed using QuestionPro’s inbuilt analytical tools for qualitative and quantitative data, which happened automatically as data was captured. QuestioPro can conduct simple and complex data analyses, including the capacity to do hotspot analysis, heat map analysis, correlation analysis, and choice modelling. Regarding qualitative data, QuestionPro can do word cloud, text analysis and sentiment analysis, amongst other capabilities. Analytical and research capabilities are outlined by QuestionPro (2023).

Interview data were transcribed into Word, and data cleaning ensued afterwards. Data cleaning was conducted to rectify any errors, such as typographical errors, to ensure all missing words were captured and the accuracy of the transcribed data. MAXQDA was then used to conduct further data analysis. A step-by-step explanation of how the software analyses the data is provided by MAXQDA (2023). The software can analyse qualitative and mixed-methods data analysis. It supports data analysis and offers coding, text retrieval, and visualisation features. This allowed for meaning generation.

The study’s findings are presented using descriptive statistics. Murphy (2021) and Alzoubi et al. (2020) justify and encourage using descriptive statistics in management sciences. This allows for simplification of the language and wide audience reach and usage.

2. Key findings

The study found that most (60%) of the surveyed businesses in tourism were more than ten years in operation, while about 40% were less than five years before the pandemic struck. This shows that many businesses in the sampled areas were still in their infancy and vulnerable to shocks. Of these businesses, about 51% were described as struggling businesses before the strike of the pandemic, which points to embedded vulnerabilities within the sector. Consequently, some tourism businesses could have been in financial trouble during the pandemic. Of the respondents to the state of business, 13% indicated that their businesses were thriving, 31% indicated they were stable, 5% revealed that they were breaking even, and 51% indicated that business was somewhat struggling. This points to some underlying challenges before the pandemic. From the collected data, it was clear that Limpopo’s tourism market comprises 42% regional tourism, 32% of the local market, and the remaining 25% of the international market.

The next sub-sections will provide detailed findings for specific sub-sectors, including tourism business operations, airports, and other focus areas.

2.1. Impact of COVID-19 on tourism business operations

COVID-19 largely harmed tourism business operations in the Limpopo Province. Besides hurting businesses and profitability, the pandemic also hurt conservation efforts. A sizeable number of employees were left traumatised and emotionally scarred, and some are battling the adverse impacts of having contracted COVID-19 and suffering the long-term effects of having contracted the disease. Figure 2 shows the impact of COVID-19 on tourism operations in Limpopo. Despite government efforts to assist with the Unemployment Insurance Fund COVID-19 TERS, the tourism industry employees suffered temporary job layoffs, and many staff members were dismissed. This finding confirms Mbatha et al.’s (2021) revelation on tourist guides in another South African province, Gauteng. Given the fixed costs tourism enterprises had to deal with even when businesses were closed, most businesses had to tap into their savings as a survival strategy. Tourism businesses incur several fixed costs even when not in operation, such as building insurance, medical aid bills, rates, taxes, levies, electricity, and rental costs. Most businesses witnessed a significant decrease in their savings and financial reserves during the COVID-19 pandemic, while most businesses depleted their savings. This means that most businesses would have challenges meeting some of their financial obligations during recovery.

Figure 2. The impact of COVID-19 on tourism businesses in Limpopo Province. Mean: 4.345 Confidence Interval @ 95%: [4.000–4.690] Standard Deviation: 2.644 Standard Error: 0.176.

The study also found that at least 15% of the respondents showed that some businesses they knew or worked for were permanently closed due to COVID-19 pandemic-induced challenges. About 12% of the surveyed businesses indicated they failed to service their debt due to cash flow challenges emerging from the pandemic. It is, therefore, not surprising that the number of staff members that were rendered jobless was high. This Limpopo study also found that about 5% of the respondents had lost their assets attached by financial institutions after failing to service their debt. This means that post-COVID-19, a sizeable number of the tourism industry were economically far worse than at the pandemic’s beginning, with detrimental impacts on employees’ psychological and social well-being.

Given tourism and hospitality employees’ challenges, about 8% of the respondents know people they were working with who resigned at the height of the pandemic. This could result from salary and wage freezes at the pandemic’s peak. Resignations could indicate a lack of confidence in the sector, given the lack of job security at that time. Therefore, the sector could have lost many talented, experienced individuals, as shown in Figure 2.

At the height of the pandemic, there were significant challenges concerning staff members who were considered front office staff infected by the COVID-19 virus, resulting in deaths. About 8% of respondents said they lost their colleagues who died after contracting the virus. This had a significant impact on the staff’s psychological well-being. Evidence from the interviews revealed that a sizeable number of tourism employees were traumatised by the pandemic, with some still battling the effects of long COVID-19. Some employees indicated that ‘since contracting COVID-19, they were never themselves again.’ Of the companies surveyed, very few indicated that they had psycho-social support services for the employees to help them navigate the wellness challenges that emerged from the pandemic after the shock. A few staff members were quite upfront about their need for psychosocial support to better deal with the trauma caused by the pandemic. A few employees feared contracting the disease during their daily work commitments. At the same time, the majority indicated that they were comfortable with the health and safety protocols adopted to deal with the effects of the pandemic. A few employees indicated that regardless of the laid down safety and health protocols, employers often ignored these, which put the employees at risk.

The COVID-19 pandemic, therefore, had a multifaceted adverse impact on tourism employees. Figure 3 shows the severity and impact of the pandemic on tourism employees who witnessed a decline in income. At least 22% of the tourism employees reported that they were and could still be depressed by the events during the COVID-19 pandemic. This confirms earlier assertions and corresponds to the findings from the interview data. The depression could be attributed to the loss of family members’ loss of assets due to incapacity in servicing debts, which could have resulted in properties being attached. Therefore, recovering from the pandemic in such scenarios will take longer than anticipated.

Figure 3. Impact of COVID-19 on tourism employees in Limpopo Province. Mean: 3.045 Confidence Interval @ 95%: [2.856–3.234] Standard Deviation: 1.442 Standard Error: 0.097.

During the interviews, tourism employees noted that they also had experienced, in some cases, changes concerning how they were paid, which had adverse implications on their livelihood security.

2.2. Impact of COVID-19 on Airports

The Limpopo province has one servicing airport that connects it to the entire country and the world, the Polokwane International Airport. Due to the challenges imposed by COVID-19, the airport witnessed a significant decline in the number of aircraft departures and arrivals at the airport, as shown in Figure 4. Given the shutdown forced on the airport at the height of the pandemic, the airport could not conduct critical routine maintenance work. The airport was downgraded and could not allow certain aircraft types to land. Not servicing critical equipment meant the airport needed to replace many things, such as runway lights, when the pandemic ended, which came at a huge cost. The decline in arrivals hence adversely affected revenue collection for the airport in the form of landing fees and other service fees.

Figure 4. Impact of COVID-19 on aviation at Polokwane International Airport.

The decline in flights to the airport consequently and equally affected passenger numbers (Figure 5). This resulted in the revenue loss that normally comes with servicing passengers. This complicated the airport’s financial outlook when funds were needed to maintain and refurbish it.

Figure 5. Impact of COVID-19 on passenger arrivals at Polokwane International Airport.

Other business establishments that operated within the airport failed to service their rentals and battled to open. One boutique that operated at the airport is permanently closed due to the impact of COVID-19.

2.3. Challenges during and post-COVID-19 pandemic era

The tourism and hospitality industry in South Africa faces numerous challenges that need to be addressed post-COVID-19 to ensure the sector fully recovers and realises its promise and potential. The prolonged pandemic left the sector financially drained and battling financially. Most businesses now require a capital injection to recapitalise, refurbish, and respond to current demands and needs. The tourism industry players noted that, in the main, the growth, in some respects, was still below where tourism was in 2019, while in some instances, the business has fully recovered to the pre-COVID-19 period.

Some entities noted that they were experiencing severe challenges with the hyperinflationary environment that characterised the post-COVID-19 pandemic. The cost of doing business had significantly gone up regardless of customers’ reduced purchasing power. The major cost drivers in the City of Polokwane include fuel, electricity and water, amongst other aspects of doing business. The respondents noted that there was also a shift in travel patterns and behaviour as some of the usual customers, such as banks and government departments, were no longer as active in meetings and conferences. This meant a drastic reduction in business. Respondents noted that most of the major developments that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic were the usage of technology such as Zoom and Teams, amongst other tools, to conduct meetings, resulting in the loss of revenue for conference venues in the sampled areas. This observation confirms similar developments worldwide as per the literature reviewed. Figure 6 captures some of the top challenges the tourism industry faces regarding tourism recovery in the province. Those who indicated others cited electricity shortage as a major challenge that could affect their business operations.

Figure 6. Top challenges regarding tourism recovery post-COVID-19 in Limpopo Province. Mean: 3.850 Confidence Interval @ 95%: [3.640–4.061] Standard Deviation: 2.218 Standard Error: 0.107.

The tourism industry in Polokwane bemoaned poor service delivery by the municipality as one of the major challenges they are facing. The tourism business complained that it takes ages for the municipality to attend to service delivery issues when reported, which sometimes frustrates businesses and customers. Post-COVID-19, the respondents noted that service delivery has deteriorated in the municipality, with constant sewage outbursts and damaged roads often left unrepaired for prolonged periods. In Thabazimbi, some tourism destinations and facilities are not reachable without a 4 × 4 vehicle, limiting the business of these tour operators. Tour operators indicated that the service delivery issue hurt the country's tourism destination image. They indicated a need to deal effectively with this aspect as it causes severe challenges from a marketing perspective.

The biggest challenge for tourism enterprises is the erratic electricity challenge. High levels of load shedding have characterised the post-COVID-19 period in South Africa. A study that was conducted by CSIR, (2023) demonstrates that South Africa faced severe load shedding between 2020 and 2022, where load shedding intensified as the load availability factor took a nosedive. Small businesses that cannot supply backup power in the form of solar, inverter and or generators indicated that tourists ask before booking an establishment whether such backup power is available. Most enterprises indicated that tourists were shunning booking with them, preferring establishments with power backup. This results in a loss of business and revenue. Most businesses indicated they would love to invest in solar technology, but the start-up costs are way beyond what they can afford, given the liquidity challenges caused by COVID-19. Those who use generators also complained of the increased cost of doing business through diesel purchases to ensure that the business is not adversely affected by load shedding. Electricity outages were also reportedly damaging equipment, which added additional costs to businesses.

The businesses in Limpopo also battled the unique challenge of a lack of water supply from the municipality. The tourism industry is reeling under water shortages as the municipality fails to provide adequate water to residents and businesses. As a remedy, most businesses outsource water from either boreholes or other sources as the municipality is incapacitated from delivering. The failure of the government to provide essential services was seen as a major challenge to the sector.

2.4. Sector resilience and coping mechanism during covid-19

Apart from a few accommodation establishments that moved away from the tourism industry to offer student accommodation, particularly in Polokwane, a few other enterprises were birthed at the height of the pandemic. Among the respondents, about five enterprises indicated they had opened their doors at the height of the pandemic. From these were women entrepreneurs in beauty and therapy and restaurant owners who went on to innovate their businesses and are looking forward to business growth. While some tourism businesses closed, the new entrepreneurs seized opportunities to open new businesses, growing steadily. The traditional food restaurant owner who opened a somewhat semi-mobile restaurant indicated that her success and resilience could be ascribed to the ability to market business and take food deliveries through their alternative-built food delivery system. This system matches the services offered by Mr Food and Uber Eats. In this way, they own their bikes, which are used to deliver food to their customers, and this has allowed them to create extra jobs and extra income rather than relying on large cooperates to provide this service.

In Thabazimbi, where the gig economy in the form of Uber food delivery or Mr D is non-existent, the pandemic gave birth to innovators to find solutions to the challenges of restaurant food delivery. Restaurants in the area devised their food delivery system to remain viable. They devised a food delivery system that was locally operated. Initially operated through telephone call-ins, the system was further developed, offering jobs for the delivery teams and some ray of hope for the restaurant industry.

The hospitality industry, particularly the accommodation sub-sector, noted that part of their resilience building was the changes they did with regard to marketing. Most establishments moved to an online booking system on platforms such as Booking.com, a popular business marketing site for establishments in the province. Businesses noted that the platform had allowed them to witness some modicum of recovery in their business operations. They, however, bemoaned the cost of fees to access such platforms. Most enterprises also indicated that they tried to improve their online presence but lacked the required capital for such exercise and lacked the digital skills to do the same effectively.

The game ranching industry noted that most establishments were left struggling due to a lack of the international tourism market, which is the mainstay of hunting and safari operations. The hunting industry noted that they reconfigured their industry to be more accommodating of the local market. This included adopting a two-tier price system for locals and the international market. Instead of solely relying on trophy hunting, some franchises moved in to develop game meat products such as biltong. In this regard, some of the open establishments have a national footprint. The industry players, such as marketers, bemoaned the escalating costs of hunting as one of the stumbling blocks towards realising a full recovery. The hunting safari noted it was still operating way below the 2019 levels and wished for a better picture.

2.5. Evaluation of government interventions during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The government played a central role in managing the COVID-19 pandemic, from policy and regulation to resource allocation. Respondents were asked to indicate their level of satisfaction with government efforts (Table 1). Several respondents were unhappy with the government’s intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic. These respondents noted racial discrimination and the chaotic processing of the Temporary Employee/Employer Relief Scheme (TERS) as significant challenges. Some respondents also complained that the local government was not forthcoming in assisting with relief on rates and taxes to offset financial pressure on struggling tourism businesses. It would, however, appear that the majority were satisfied with the government’s efforts during COVID-19. More than half of the respondents were happy with how the government dealt with the pandemic. Tourism businesses, however, feel that more could be done to support tourism businesses better to recover from the pandemic.

Table 1. Satisfaction levels with government interventions.

Statement	Agree	Strongly Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly Disagree	Overall
I was satisfied with the government's support during the COVID-19 pandemic	40	17	25	13	13	108
	37.04%	15.74%	23.15%	12.04%	12.04%	100%
Our business would have collapsed had it not been for the government support we got	33	11	18	12	8	82
	40.24%	13.41%	21.95%	14.63%	9.76%	100%
The government could have done more to support business operations during the height of the pandemic	33	19	16	9	1	78
	42.31%	24.36%	20.51%	11.54%	1.28%	100%
Government support was provided in a transparent manner	23	3	33	9	9	77
	29.87%	3.9%	42.86%	11.69%	11.69%	100%
I am satisfied with current efforts by the government to revive the tourism and hospitality industry	25	6	20	15	9	75
	33.33%	8%	26.67%	20%	12%	100%
I am satisfied with the implementation modalities use to control the spread of COVID-19.	35	8	19	7	4	73
	47.95%	10.96%	26.03%	9.59%	5.48%	100%

Mean: 2.693 Confidence Interval @ 95%: [2.371–3.015] Standard Deviation: 1.423 Standard Error: 0.164.

3. Discussion

The study found that some of the challenges that the sector faces are not unique to the South African tourism sector but have been flagged as potential recovery challenges elsewhere in the world. However, there are unique cases that deal with the South African context. Loss of jobs and lack of capital to recover tourism have been a concern worldwide (Jomo & Chowdhury, 2020; Dube, 2021). Most importantly, the study highlights the unstainable ways of the tourism industry, often labelled unsustainable (Agyeiwaah, 2020). This explains the departure of some employees, which could have resulted in the loss of critical skills and experience. The challenges of job insecurity and poor salaries within the tourism industry have been flagged (Nassani et al., 2019) for some time and resulted in challenges of the recovery in the global tourism economy (Dube, 2022; Hambira et al., 2022) as it battles with reopening in 2021 and 2022. A disaster management approach to ensure this approach has been addressed as the sector moves forward will assist in addressing some of the criticism against the sector.

The emotional well-being of tourism employees is an issue that has been paid little attention to and often just lip service within the tourism sector. COVID-19 has assisted in raising consciousness on the need to tackle mental health within the tourism sector (Sohaib et al., 2022; Kimbu et al., 2023) to ensure the sector’s sustainability. Paying attention to employees’ psychological and mental well-being assists in delivering excellent service for the businesses. There is a need to provide comprehensive care for tourism employees, given the diversity of people and the challenges these employees face daily. The psychological trauma and post-traumatic stress of most employees and health challenges such as COVID-19 will linger on for some time to come, and there is a need for business sensitivity to this critical aspect.

The study also highlighted the centrality of government spending as a trigger to tourism in the province and the adverse impacts of technological gains, resulting in more meetings being conducted online instead of in physical meetings. This has resulted in reduced business activities, which hamper recovery. In contrast to findings by Lu et al. (2022), who argued that virtual conferences would benefit tourism recovery in South Africa, the experience has been contrary to this. There was, therefore, a need to release funds saved that accumulated during the pandemic, which can act as a catalyst for tourism recovery by consuming various tourism products and offerings.

The study emphasises the importance of regional and domestic tourism products in the Limpopo province. The anti-foreigner sentiments targeted at African visitors and residents in South Africa, which were heightened at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic (Finn & Kobayashi, 2020), pose a significant threat to several business viabilities as the international tourism sectors seem to be recovering slowly globally.

Service delivery in South Africa has deteriorated over the years (Kanyane, 2014; du Plessis, 2023). Given the implications of tourism as a recovery challenge, it requires considerable political attention to address road maintenance and water and energy supply issues that threaten to derail the South African economy. COVID-19 should have been used as an excuse to address some of these water and sanitation challenges. Increased transfer of these costs to the tourism industry is unjust and increases travel costs in a market with other challenges, such as climate change (Mosia et al., 2022). These challenges present marketing challenges for the country, and policymakers need to make every effort to address some of these challenges as a matter of priority.

The pandemic also highlighted the energy sustainability challenges that the tourism industry faces. Such challenges of load shedding come with an opportunity for the tourism industry to transition towards cleaner energy renewables (Nhamo et al., 2023). The tourism sector in South Africa is carbon intensive. It must use the opportunity to reorient itself towards a cleaner, greener pathway that will benefit the environment and all involved stakeholders. The growth in the usage of diesel generators to offset the impacts of the incapacity of Eskom to supply energy is worrying as it might worsen the carbon emissions risk that the sector is facing. Globally, there are fears that carbon emissions are rising at an unprecedented rate after the decline witnessed earlier in 2020 at the height of the pandemic (Le Quéré et al., 2021; Adebayo & Kartal, 2023).

The sector’s resilience is clear from various case studies, including various business start-ups explored in this study. The tourism sector’s resilience is quite commendable and encouraging. For these business enterprises to thrive, there might be a need to provide incubation, strong governance, and government support to ensure that businesses started during the pandemic can thrive. Alternative business operations that opened up in response to the pandemic provide critical lessons for the sector going forward. A reworking of South African tourism is critical for the sector’s sustainability going forward.

4. Conclusions and policy recommendations

The impact of COVID-19 is well-documented. What is clear from the study is that the sector was inadequately prepared to deal with the resultant impact of COVID-19 and the fallout that ensued thereafter. Despite some enterprises in the Limpopo Province indicating that the period before COVID-19 was fairly good in terms of economic performance, very few companies had savings to carry them through the pandemic. The study reveals the need for the sector to adequately prepare financially for disasters that might occur, such as COVID-19.

Employees were left to deal with the challenge of the pandemic regardless of whether businesses had made profits in previous years. Implementing the COVID-19 relief fund was often chaotic, and procedures were unclear. This left several tourism employees battling to meet their financial obligations. This requires better planning in the future. Providing relief along racial lines was insensitive, and the government can be better accommodating in ensuring a spirit of belonging and social cohesion. The tourism enterprises in Polokwane (the provincial capital) seem uncoordinated, adversely affecting its bid to get concessions at the height of the pandemic. A coordinated approach to tourism bidding offers numerous benefits, including destination marketing, as such structures are needed to foster marketing and recovery of the sector.

From a psychological and financial perspective, the pandemic deeply scarred tourism employees. An appeal to provide psychosocial support can never be over-emphasised in this regard to dealing with the anxieties created by the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of health and safety considerations for the sector, tourism employees require protection going forward. The sector’s recovery is predicated on government support in many respects. There is, therefore, a need to continuously support the sector as it battles recovery to avoid further business failure, which has a devastating impact on employment patterns in the province.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).