11/04/2020
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN ON LOCKDOWN ?
My family and I have been on lockdown since Thursday the 26th of March when President Ramaphosa announced it officially. Since then we have only left our house three times. Once to go to the hotel to check on the skeleton staff left there to secure and maintain the hotel and its grounds, and twice to go to the shops to buy supplies.
HOW HAS CORONA CHANGED YOUR LIFE? WHAT ABOUT YOUR FAMILY & IN SPAIN ?
As far as business is concerned the COVID19 has had a massive impact emotionally and financially. Emotionally, because we had to close our doors for the first time in 16 years and that was one of the toughest days of my life.
Secondly because we had to send the staff home with a twist huge amount of uncertainty and that was also heartbreaking as some of them have worked for Valverde for over 12 years.
Financially, our income went from our usual monthly turnover and cash-flow to zero virtually overnight. Every conference and wedding
scheduled for the end of March, April and partially May either postponed (most of them did, thankfully) or cancelled until further notice. It was like the ground disappeared from underneath us, without prior warning.
As a business owner I had to make some tough decision, but I am taking this time to reflect, re-calibrate and reset the short- and long-term
goals for the business. It is the perfect time to work on the Vision, Mission and reset the culture to the new reality.
Regarding my family in Spain, I have been following the developments over there and it has been quite scary as the numbers of infections and death rises dramatically.
Luckily my family is doing fine - my parents are at high risk and they have been in lockdown for just over three weeks now. I hope and pray that
the virus won’t affect them. I must say, knowing this was happening a month before it happened in SA gave me time to prepare for the inevitable.
WHAT CHANGES DO YOU BELIEVE WE NEED TO MAKE AS A SOCIETY? WHAT IMPACT WILL COVID HAVE ON TOURISM IN THE
FUTURE?
The main thing this COVID19 has taught me is Solidarity. We need to do what we need to do, not only for ourselves and our families but for
everyone else around us (wearing masks, gloves, sanitizing your hands etc).
And we need to try our best to help each other in these times of need for our people in SA. The virus hopefully will make a better, more
compassionate and mature society.
It will hopefully also teach us better hygiene, not only for our hospitality related businesses but also for our homes.
I believe the impact on tourism will only be in the short and mid-term until society can 'go back to normal'. Once we find a vaccine, we can resume our lives and hopefully the tourism industry will be back on its feet.
What worries me in the short and mid term impact the COVID19 is having on our businesses. The relief fund put together by government will be of great help if our businesses can access it, but will also put more pressure and add more debt to an industry that has been already struggling for a number of years.
WHAT IS YOUR MESSAGE FOR SOUTH AFRICANS, FOR CITIZENS OF THE
GLOBE?
My message is simple, together we can make a better world and if we stick together and we follow the regulations imposed by governments around the globe during the lockdown. We will save many lives and we will come out of this crisis stronger and better as a society.
Stay home. Save lives.
❤️🇿🇦🌍
