NightsBridge online accommodation booking system reported 9 389 bookings across 2 646 properties for the past long weekend, showing that South Africans are eager to escape their homes now that intra-provincial leisure travel is allowed.

Theresa Emerick, the Managing Director of NightsBridge, says, “The Western Cape received 42% of the online bookings for this long weekend, with KwaZulu-Natal in second place at 16% and Gauteng 13%. However, accommodation providers in provinces like Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West are reliant on leisure travellers from other provinces and will need the lockdown to be lifted for leisure travel across provincial borders to survive.”

“The Western Cape received 42% of the online bookings for this long weekend, with KwaZulu-Natal in second place at 16% and Gauteng 13%.”

Their data showed that the majority of trips were short (26% for one night, 38% for two nights and 30% for three nights) and were for groups (46% for multiple rooms with no children) and couples (37%).

As tourism slowly reopens, accommodation providers are implementing various health and safety precautions to keep their guests safe. “The Tourism Business Council of South Africa established protocols which have been approved by the World Travel and Tourism Council and are being rolled out in earnest by the accommodation sector,” says Emerick. “Part of this means reducing physical contact wherever possible and maintaining guest tracing protocols.”

In keeping with this, NightsBridge has launched a new cloud based BridgeIT solution for its customers to complete the COVID-19 questionnaire before arrival and have a contactless check-in process. The company will be rolling out other new safety features in the coming months.

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