ANTON GILLIS: DStv doesn’t care about tourism recovery

DStv doesn’t care about SA’s tourism recovery. That’s not something I ever thought I’d have to say after nearly two decades in the hospitality space, but it’s a conclusion I’ve reluctantly been forced to come to after reviewing our own spending on the satellite TV service. 

Anyone who has stayed in a hotel with DStv is probably aware that it offers those in the hospitality sector a limited bouquet of channels. What they may not be aware of is what it charges each establishment for the service and how big a line item it can be on any given hotel’s expense sheet.

The DStv bouquet used by most hotels costs R390 per month, per room. That means a typical 100-room hotel is spending close to R40,000 a month, and R468,000 a year, just on DStv.    

For an industry that’s still struggling to recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and its attendant lockdowns, that’s simply untenable. 

Slow, staggered recovery   

It’s worth remembering just how devastating the pandemic was to the tourism industry. Players across the sector were left on their knees. With SA subject to, and the implementer of, some of the strictest travel regulations on the planet, many could only sit and watch as their incomes disappeared overnight.

Many businesses were simply wiped off the map. And while other industries were able to kick straight back into top gear once lockdown was lifted, tourism’s recovery has been far more staggered. 

In fact, while many may feel that life has more or less returned to normal, there are still major impediments that need to be overcome before tourism can return to anything like its pre-pandemic state, never mind the role it should play in the economy.

Before the pandemic, for example, more than 100,000 Chinese tourists visited SA every year. But now it remains almost entirely closed to travellers and has stringent re-entry requirements for residents. In effect, that means one of the country’s biggest tourism markets remains almost entirely shut off with no sign that it’s about to open up again. 

As a consequence, almost everyone in the sector still has to make sure that every red cent they spend is providing maximum value. Remember, hotels are still in a position where keeping rates low and competitive is a matter of survival. 

In that kind of environment, the high cost of DStv sticks out like a sore thumb, especially when the typical hotel guest only spends about 10 hours of their day in their room. For eight of those hours, they’re sleeping.

Very little flexibility 

In a bid to try to reduce that burden, I contacted DStv to see if there was anything that could be done. In response, a representative sent me information about its price locks and attendant discounts. 

For a hotel the size of Kruger Gate that amounts to a 9% discount. Right now we pay R678,600 a year for DStv in 145 rooms. A 9% discount brings that down to R617,526 a year. That’s hardly going to turn anyone’s fortunes around. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to keep supporting DStv. It’s an SA offering that’s home to some really good products. But if I’m going to keep doing so it needs to show similar levels of support for the SA tourism industry. 

If the choice is between keeping staff employed and rewarding loyalty with salary increases or having DStv in every room, I know where my money’s going. 

Other options increasingly easy to offer 

It’s also important to remember that it’s increasingly easy for hoteliers to offer other options to guests. For the same price as a single DStv bouquet, they could have dedicated accounts for two or three of the biggest streaming services in each room. In doing so they’d be offering guests a far greater content selection without exposing them to the shortfalls of linear TV.  

They might not even have to go that far. Simply ensuring that guests can cast from their smartphones or laptops to the hotel room TV may be enough if they’re targeting a young enough demographic. 

Electronics giant LG and streaming pioneer Netflix have embraced this new future. If a hotel has LG smart TVs, guests can log in to their Netflix account while checking in before being automatically logged off on checkout.  

Sure, it means guests might not be able to enjoy DStv’s live sports offerings, but it will only be able to hold on to that monopoly for so long. 

Innovate and collaborate 

I’d like to reiterate that I’d rather hoteliers didn’t have to consider those alternatives. But I’d be a bad tourism executive if I wasn’t considering them myself. They’re not only more affordable but increasingly in line with what guests expect from their hotel experience. 

There is another option though. DStv could come together with representatives from SA’s tourism and hospitality sector and find an innovative, collaborative solution that’s mutually beneficial. 

In a post-Covid era defined by rampant inflation, such a solution may well prove to be critical to the recovery and long-term sustainability of both. 

• Gillis is CEO of the Kruger Gate Hotel.