Tourism Recovery Strategies from COVID-19 Within National Parks in Western Cape, South Africa

The hard lockdowns instituted at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic devastated the global tourism and hospitality industry. This impact was primarily felt by the African tourism market, which depends mainly on the international tourism market for its sustenance. With airlines and the borders closed, most destinations are starved of much-needed tourism revenue. The advent and adoption of vaccines and safety and health protocols enabled some modicum of recovery and industry opening. Understanding the impact and recovery of the sector is key to current and future planning. This study sought to explore recovery strategies for COVID-19 in South Africa’s national parks. The study uses archival and secondary data from Wesgro and South African National Parks (SANParks) for the period 2019–2022 first quarter. The study found that COVID-19 impact on national park arrivals in 2020 dropped by between −78% and −36%. There has been a significant recovery in terms of arrivals, with some parks witnessing the recovery, surpassing figures that were prevailing in 2019. The strong recovery in some destinations can be attributed to robust e-marketing and discount promotions that Wesgro and SANParks did. Using e-marketing and social media influencers resulted in significant growth in social media following on all social media platforms. Given the uncertainty in the growth trajectory, there is a need to intensify current efforts to promote both domestic and international tourism markets to ensure recovery sustainability.