When Stellenbosch tourism locked down under level 3

Stellenbosch usually attracts a dynamic group of visitors, including students, pensioners, and both local and international tourists. But after the state-implemented lockdown, aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19, was announced on 23 March, tourism in this historic, culturally-rich town, changed.*

Stellenbosch was the first South African town that was given the safe travels stamp by the World Travel and Tourism Council. This was after the tourism minister announced on 30 July that intra-provincial leisure travel is permitted, after which Stellenbosch residents and business owners were eager for future Stellenbosch tourism to unfold.

Increased accommodation availability 

A 2018 study by Genesis Analytics found that Airbnb generated an estimated R8.7 billion impact on the South African economy. This was according to Velma Corcoran, Airbnb Country Manager in Sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, the study reflected that 1 in 7 accommodation seekers in South Africa book with Airbnb. 

According to Russell Seymour, CEO of Seymour Properties, his Church Street apartment that is rented out on Airbnb, has stood empty since 14 March. 

“Our upmarket apartment, that’s predominantly targeted towards tourists, was fully booked for the months prior to lockdown,” said Seymour.

The most recent guests left two days earlier than their initial booking, as a result of the uncertainty that Covid-19 caused, said Seymour.  A few days before lockdown level five was implemented, he added.

Life and Leisure Boutique Guesthouse in Stellenbosch accommodates a wide variety of guests, said the owner, Margid Potgieter. This includes South African and international tourists, businessmen, students and Stellenbosch University (SU) professors, and guest lecturers, she added.

According to Potgieter, there were SU guest lecturers in the guesthouse that immediately left when SU abruptly stopped physical classes 16 March, due to Covid-19.

Some guesthouses were fortunate to have guests remain on their premises during the lockdown, she explained. 

However, she added that even having one or two guests wouldn’t be enough to cover overhead expenses for a guesthouse.

With 12 employees before lockdown, Life and Leisure now has 2. Potgieter said they’ll consider registering for Ubuntu Beds, in an attempt to mitigate further losses.

According to Nina Daniels, general manager of the Oude Werf Hotel, the hotel used to have Covid-19 responder rooms, where people were able to isolate themselves.

“During lockdown we had set up our hotel as an isolation facility but had no bookings during that time period,” she said.

Oude Werf is now open for business but not exclusively open for isolation any longer but not an isolation hotel anymore, said Daniels.

Restaurants restricted 

The Covid-19 pandemic “impacted Fat Butcher massively,” according to Gerhard Janse van Vuren, manager at Fat Butcher, a restaurant that’s popular amongst Stellenbosch locals and tourists alike.

Having closed down during the “hard lockdown,” Fat Butcher lost a lot of their support base due to the lack of tourists, said Janse van Vuren.

“Luckily the bulk of the pandemic struck in wintertime for us, but without tourists, we can’t really function,” said Janse van Vuren.

“People all over South African come to Stellenbosch to enjoy wine, food and culture,” said Bertus Basson, chef and owner of five restaurants in Stellenbosch.

Basson added that a weak rand meant that tourists who convert their currency to rands might find South Africa increasingly affordable.

“We need international tourists and won’t be able to run the business we do without them. That’s the reality of it,” he said.

“The lack of tourism has had a broad impact on Stellenbosch. It’s the kind of business that relies on both markets, [international] tourism and local support,” Basson explained.

Although this impact on tourism raises concerns, he emphasized we should recognize why we can’t have normal Stellenbosch tourism under these circumstances and should prioritise proceeding with caution.

“The 9 o’clock curfew for example had a huge effect on our businesses. As South Africans we go for a meal and a ‘kuier’,” he chuckled. 

While food and wine pair perfectly for local and international tourists alike, Basson is forced to look at his businesses differently.

The alcohol ban consequently has additional practical and financial implications on restaurants.

Stellenbosch wine tourism 

“Generally, the winter season sees a lot less international tourists,” said Maryna Callow, communications manager at Wine of South Africa (WOSA). 

However, during European summer holidays, international tourists often do safari’s and come to the Western Cape for a wine farm element.

“Traditionally, we have a long winter holiday and local tourism spikes during that time. And we haven’t had that this year,” said Callow.

“Intra provincial travel was only recently allowed… while people might take day trips, they [still] can’t go wine tasting!” she exclaimed.

South African wineries rely heavily on tourists, said Abrie Beeslaar, wine industry body, Vinpro’s newly elected board member for the Stellenbosch region. Resultantly, online sales are becoming increasingly important, he added.

For every week that the alcohol ban is in place, R100 million was lost, said Callow.

South African wine tourism makes R7.2 billion annually, according to 2019 statistics, said Callow. Decreased wine tourism therefore does have an impact on the wine industry, additional to the pandemic. 

Callow resultantly described herself as “cautiously optimistic” about the future of the wine tourism industry.

“The initial nine-week ban on local sales, and five-week ban on exports, will result in more than 80 wineries and 350 wine grape producers going out of business,” said Wanda Augustyn, Vinpro communications manager.

According to Augustyn, over 21 000 jobs across the value-chain will be lost within the next 18 months.

With a predominant presence of smaller businesses in the wine industry, Augustyn says that 36% of farmers produce under 500 tonnes per year and 40% of farmers produce under 100 tonnes. “The majority [of which] don’t have sufficient bridging finance to get them through the financial drought,” she explained.

“Luckily we had a bit of back-up to keep us going, but if lockdown were to continue, we’ll have to let people go and consider major salary cuts which we haven’t implemented [in wine production] yet,” said Anri Truter, the winemaker at Beyerskloof. This “back up” being despite Beyerskloof being unable to sell wine in the past three months.

Financial implications resulting from decreased tourism during lockdown can be seen in the fact that 15 to 20 casual and permanent employees were retrenched from their wine bar and restaurant respectively, according to Truter. 

According to Truter, international and local tourists are attracted to Beyerskloof’s pinotage.

“They’re interested in the cultivar and [they] know it’s the only South African commercially available cultivar out there,” said Truter.

The wine farming industry, however, was already under some strain, said Truter.  Before the pandemic, selling was a bit slower and inconsistent compared to previous years, Truter added.

“A lot of farms were under strain, worse off compared to 5 years ago,” he said. According to Truter, Covid-19 merely exacerbated these concerns.

Vineyard’s operating costs are already high and some were not getting the price per ton that would give them an efficient turnover or profit, he explained.

*NOTE: This article was written in August before the lockdown regulations were eased permitting public gatherings, interprovincial travel as well as the alcohol ban being lifted.