Government’s 11-month failure to engage with operators has led to a situation where, without intervention, there will be insufficient vehicles to support the inbound tourism sector when it revives.
This is according to chairperson of the Private Charter Passenger Association (PCPA), Fiona Brooke-Leggatt, who told Travel News‘ sister publication Tourism Update that after months of unanswered legal correspondence and pleas to government for assistance, the association has now been assured of a meeting “soon”.
Fiona pointed out that without intervention from government, there would no longer be enough private vehicles in South Africa to cater for international tourists. She said it was likely that chartered tourism vehicles would not be able to operate until there were no more travel restrictions. “We rely entirely on international tourists, conferencing and events, none of which we will see until the lockdown is over.”
The thrust of the PCPA’s efforts and a vital relief measure that PCPA has been lobbying government for, is the refunding of the pre-paid vehicle licence fees already paid by operators, or reinstatement of the operators on a pro-rata basis when busses can once again operate.
“We have now effectively paid for licences 18 months in advance. I got the numbers from just a few of our association members who have collectively paid R23m in licence fees that have gone totally unused,” said Fiona.
Fiona said the PCPA had compiled a document of all the legal letters and appeals sent to government over the last 11 months and was sending it to government officials and the press every single day. Fiona said that, as a result of this, the Department of Transport’s dg, Alec Moemi, had responded to the association’s plea for an extension of their pre-paid vehicle licences. She said the dg had contacted her to confirm that he was in the second phase of approaching the provincial licensing bodies on this matter and would soon set up a meeting with the PCPA.
