Rebuilding tourism for the future : COVID-19 and tourism levy administration in Gauteng graded accommodation sector

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic brought the tourism sector to a complete standstill during the hard lockdown because of the global travel ban. This study aims to analyse the effects of COVID-19 on levy administration and revenue collection in Gauteng graded accommodation establishments in South Africa. Gauteng province is a gateway for international tourist arrivals and the most visited province in South Africa. The study used a case study design based on a saturated purposive snowball sampling procedure with data collected through semi-structured interviews from 15 key informants, stakeholders in Tourism marketing, directly working with graded accommodation establishments. The study reports a significant disruption in levy collection due to the COVID19 pandemic. The COVID-19 restrictions led to the loss of business profits due to establishments' permanent and temporary closures. For Gauteng's graded accommodation establishments to survive, technological innovation and reorganisation of operations were critical. The study recommends stakeholder harmonisation in synergy with strategies for levy collection post- COVID-19 era. This study proposes critical interventions to the levy administrators and government to support graded establishments collecting the levy.