GEORGE - The growth of tourism and the economy of the Garden Route is severely hampered by the lack of flights to George and the prohibitively expensive airfares, said an outspoken Rhodes lecturer and economist, Prof Matthew Lester.
He was the guest speaker at the George Chamber’s business breakfast on Friday.
"It is an outrage that a return flight and car rental during a weekend for two to George will set you back R7 000.
"The infrequency and unreliability of flights are also a killer. As businessman you cannot take the risk to fly to George and be told: ’Sorry we have had to cancel our flight, we do not have an aircraft,’ as was the case with SA Airlink. With fewer accidents they will have fewer aircraft grounded," quipped Lester.
"But seriously, it is a great pity that I cannot lecture in George and then fly out to Cape Town because you are so under-serviced with flights. This is not the case at all at Port Elizabeth.
"George as gateway for the Garden Route is currently the top destination in the Western Cape next to Cape Town. You as organised business should not accept such a poor service," said Lester who spent December in Plettenberg Bay where there simply is no service at all.

World Cup
Lester predicted that all coastal areas will experience a stimulus from the Soccer 2010 World Cup because all schools and universities are closing and families will take the opportunity to go on holiday in June and July.
"I expect the World Cup to be a TV event and not much more. The TV coverage will be beneficial but there won’t be an influx of soccer fans to coastal areas as the difference in altitude between here and the places where matches are being played is too big.

"Your future prosperity depends on being more accessible by airlines. You have world class standards and infrastructure," said Lester. He was referring to, amongst others, five star establishments like Hyatt Regency Oubaai where the breakfast was being held.
"But your airline services are letting you down and therefore you cannot reach your full potential. What better way than to provide employment in the tourism industry? You should get your unions to back you up when you go lobbying for cheaper and more frequent flights."

Unemployment
Although South Africa has a lot to be proud and optimistic about, there are four key issues that will have to be addressed and this includes the fight against Aids and the fact that only a third of sufferers are on antiretrovirals despite the billions being spent on health, said Lester.
The second biggest issue is the high unemployment rate in the country, and the fact that 15 million South Africans are dependent on grants, after 900 000 people lost their jobs.
Thirdly, there is a loss of consumer confidence coupled to the fact that since 2003 there has been only a small recovery from the debt that people accumulated.
"You simply can’t save yourself out of a recession. You need people to spend and they are simply not doing so. We are back to bring and braai."

The fourth issue he touched on is the 25% increase from Eskom which will severely hamper the recovery from the recession and economic growth.
"Well at least we are better off than Dubai and the UK. Those of us who were lamenting our empty nests will find that the kids are coming back in their droves and will soon be lying on our couches drinking our beer," joked Lester in concluding a highly informative power point presentation on the state of our economy.

Article and photo: Pauline Lourens