Kaya 959 Reporter
While South Africa’s hospitality industry has recovered from post-Covid low numbers, neither hotels nor restaurants have completely returned to normal.
Fewer and fewer people are going to restaurants.
According to the Bureau for Economic Research (BER), the low levels of a year ago, when few people travelled or went out to eat because of Covid-19 restrictions are the cause of the unusually high year-over-year growth rates this year.
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Kaya Biz with Gugulethu Mfuphi spoke to George Kershoff – Deputy Director at the Bureau for Economic Research who spoke about the possible reasons why South Africans have stopped going out to restaurants.
LISTEN TO THE FULL CONVERSATION HERE:
Kershoff says though there’s been growth in the industry, it still remains very low.
“This time last year, in the second quarter we still had many restrictions, and people were scared to go out eating as well as staying out in hotels… Compared to that time last year now is much much better.”
‘However, the industry as a who is still about 35% below before the COVID 19 pandemic.”
According to the report, “Beyond the first quarter, sharply rising menu prices and renewed pressure on local household budgets are also probably dampening the frequency of people’s visits to and spending at restaurants,”
“Load shedding could also be a contributory factor in the reluctance to go out eating in the evening,” the BER said.
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