Tourism SMMEs Recovery from COVID-19: A Case of SMMEs in the City of Polokwane, Limpopo province, South Africa

Abstract

The tourism industry is dependent on travel and factors that inhibits travel, including pandemics such as COVID-19, may have a profound impact on the industry. Although the precise scope and long-term effects of COVID-19 have not yet been determined, industry analysts predict that some irreversible changes will occur in the future. SMMEs, which represent approximately 80% of licensed tourism and tourism-related businesses worldwide, were acutely affected by the crises. Tourism SMMEs have been more directly affected, as people who live in vulnerable communities who depend on tourism for their livelihoods have been adversely affected by the collapse of SMMEs. This research investigated the recovery possibilities of tourism SMMEs from COVID-19 in the city of Polokwane in Limpopo province. This research adopted a qualitative approach with in-depth semi-structured interviews as a data collection tool from 13 owners of tourism SMMEs registered in the Polokwane Local Municipality database, the inclusion condition for these SMMEs was that they should have been in operation for a minimum of five (5) years and to have been formally registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission of South Africa (CIPC). The key findings of the study shows that tourism SMME owners believe that their businesses will recover to the state they were before COVID-19, though the recovery would be slow and that SMME owners are of the view that the recovery is subject to rooting out of corruption activities withing government. Overall, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of SMMEs resilience and recovery from pandemics and disasters.

Keywords

• tourism
• smmes
• resilience
• recovery
• covid-19
• tourism competitiveness