Shares in JSE-listed hotel groups surged on Monday morning as investors cheered news that the UK will be removing SA from its red list ofThe UK’s Sunday Telegraph reported that the country was set to slash the list of so-called red list countries to just nine, with SA, Brazil, Mexico and Indonesia among those to be removed — a move that could come in days.
In morning trade, Sun International’s share was up 10.79% to R22.90, on track for its best day since February, while City Lodge surged 14.32% to R4.79, set for its best session since November 2020.Small Talk Daily’s Anthony Clark noted that the recent weakness in the rand had boosted the prospects for tourism, further noting that the Netherlands lifted restrictions at the weekend, and other eurozone countries were set to do so soon.
SA’s position as a red-list country had sparked criticism, given that the country officially exited its third wave in late September, while the arrival of winter in the northern hemisphere is expected to give tourism in SA a shot in the arm. SA’s tourism industry contributed about 8.6% of SA’s GDP before Covid-19, and has been one of the hardest hit parts of the economy due to the restrictions on travel and leisure from the pandemic.
The coronavirus pandemic prompted a fall of almost three quarters in tourist numbers in 2020, with more than half those arriving doing so in the first two months of that year