Guest House Association of South Africa

07/09/2026

07/09/2026

07/09/2026

THE BRIEF | Monday 7 September

Both national campaigns start today. And we owe you an answer on a question we left open yesterday.

SHO'T LEFT TRAVEL WEEK: THE DATES

Yesterday we said we would not guess between two sets of dates. Here is what we found.

Three separate sources published before today all give the same week, 7 to 13 September 2026. Gauteng Tourism on 25 August, Bizcommunity on 1 September, and MyVirgo on 3 September. Up to 50 percent off selected tourism products, booked through shotleft.co.za.

Mashoto Mokgethi, head of domestic tourism at South African Tourism, said: "We know South Africans are making careful decisions about how they spend their money, especially when household budgets are stretched."

One detail worth knowing. Many participating offers let a customer buy during the week and travel later, subject to each provider's own terms and availability. So the money can come in this week for a bed in November.

The one thing we still cannot reconcile. South African Tourism's own trade page still reads "REGISTRATIONS ARE CLOSED" and still shows "Deals must only be available to book from 24 to 30 September". That does not match the three consumer sources. We are flagging it rather than guessing. If you need certainty for a supplier deal, phone South African Tourism today.

PARKS WEEK: TWO THINGS WE CAN NOW BE EXACT ABOUT

SANParks published a Cape region release on 2 September that is more specific than the general announcement.

Identification. Visitors 18 years and older must present a valid South African ID. Those younger than 18 must provide a valid birth certificate. Not a school card, not a clinic card. A birth certificate.

Exclusions in the Cape. On top of the Boulders Penguin Colony and the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, the Cape Agulhas Lighthouse is also excluded. Free access is day visits only and excludes accommodation, commercial activities and other fee based facilities.

West Coast National Park is free from 7 to 11 September only, not the full week.

NEW THIS WEEK, WITH A DEADLINE

CapeNature has opened its annual call for concessionaire proposals. It is looking for operators in the adventure, culture and heritage, and events sectors to conduct business across 25 of its reserves. Applicants must show at least five years of tourism experience with documented success, and submit a detailed business proposal. Applications close on 9 October 2026.

WHY THIS MATTERS TO YOU

The birth certificate line is the one to act on this morning. A family drives two hours to a gate on Wednesday, the children have no birth certificates, and the day falls apart. That is not your fault, but the phone call afterwards is yours. Put one sentence about ID into your reply to every enquiry this week and you have saved somebody's holiday and earned a review.

On Sho't Left, you do not need to be a registered supplier to earn from it. A person who has just booked a half price attraction still has to sleep somewhere near it. Make sure your calendar and rates for 7 to 13 September are correct on every channel you sell on.

On CapeNature, this one is for activity operators rather than accommodation. But if you run a guided walk, a heritage tour or an events business alongside your rooms, or your neighbour does, 9 October is a real date on a real opportunity.

Sources:
https://www.gauteng.net/whats-on-g/shot-left-travel-week-returns/
https://www.bizcommunity.com/article/shot-left-travel-week-brings-domestic-deals-ahead-of-year-end-break-742452a
https://www.sanparks.org/news/free-access-to-national-parks-in-the-cape-region-during-sa-national-parks-week
https://www.tourismupdate.com/article/capenature-seeks-activity-operators-for-reserves

Beautiful people and beautiful places. From majestic rivers to sun-soaked beaches, from breath-taking mountains to valleys and views that will leave you speechless.

06/09/2026

🌊 Two coastal GHASA members worth a getaway this spring!

🏖️ Paradise Beach Self-Catering Apartments, Langebaan (West Coast) — 4-star, family-friendly apartments (1 & 2 bedroom) with sea, veld and dune views from your balcony. Solar-backed, so no load-shedding worries. From R990 a night. Walk the beach, hike the dunes, swim in the lagoon's clear blue water.
👉 https://paradisebeachlangebaan.co.za

🌿 Secret Sands Guesthouse, Wilderness Beach (Garden Route) — Barefoot luxury right on the sand. Nature-inspired rooms with private ocean or forest-view balconies, heated pool, hot tub, outdoor shower, direct beach access and daily breakfast. Book the whole guesthouse for a group retreat.
👉 https://secretsandsgardenroute.com

Book direct and support our members! 🇿🇦

06/09/2026

THE BRIEF | Sunday 6 September

Two national campaigns start tomorrow, and you do not need to have registered anything to earn from either one.

SA NATIONAL PARKS WEEK
7 to 13 September, the 21st edition. Free day visitor entry to participating national parks for South Africans. SANParks says bring your SA ID to gain free entrance, and that children must also present valid identification at the gate.

Weekdays only, 7 to 11 September: Kruger, West Coast because of flower season, and Augrabies Falls.

Full week, 7 to 13 September: Agulhas, Bontebok, Table Mountain, Tankwa Karoo, Addo Elephant, Camdeboo, Karoo, Mountain Zebra, Garden Route, Golden Gate Highlands, Mapungubwe, Marakele, Richtersveld, Kgalagadi and Mokala.

Still paid: all accommodation inside the parks, all activities and game drives, the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway and the Boulders Penguin Colony. It is the day visitor gate fee that falls away, nothing else.

SHO'T LEFT TRAVEL WEEK
7 to 13 September. Up to 50 percent off selected accommodation, attractions, tours, transport and holiday packages, booked through the Sho't Left platform.

One correction to what we said on Wednesday. We could not find a supplier deadline then. We have now checked South African Tourism's own trade page and it reads "REGISTRATIONS ARE CLOSED". Note that the same page also displays a booking window of 24 to 30 September, which does not match the 7 to 13 September dates published elsewhere. We are not going to guess which is right. If you were planning to load a deal today, phone South African Tourism tomorrow rather than assume either date.

Why this matters to a guest house owner.

The free gate is the thing that moves people, not the discount. A family sitting at the kitchen table tonight deciding whether to drive to Addo or Golden Gate on Tuesday is going to spend the next hour looking for a bed near that gate. They are not looking for a registered campaign offer. They are looking for a room, a price and someone who answers.

Look again at the weekday only list. Kruger, West Coast and Augrabies are free from Monday to Friday and then stop. Midweek in September is exactly where your occupancy is thin. That is the demand you can actually catch this week, and it is the demand the lock box flat down the road is worst at serving, because nobody there answers the phone on a Sunday night.

So today is one job, not five.

Open every channel you sell on and make sure your availability and your rates for 7 to 13 September are correct and match each other. A wrong calendar this week costs you real money.

Then put the nearest park, and how far your door is from its gate, into the first two lines of your listing description and your Google profile. Not paragraph six. The first two lines. That is the search someone is typing tonight.

Then answer fast all week. Response time is the one thing you can beat a bigger operator on without spending a cent.

If your nearest park is on the weekday only list, say so in your reply to every enquiry. Most guests do not know, and the ones who find out on Saturday at the gate will be somebody else's bad review.

Sources:
https://www.sanparks.org/events/sa-national-parks-week-2026
https://www.gauteng.net/whats-on-g/shot-left-travel-week-returns/
https://www.southafrica.net/gl/en/trade/category/shot-left-travel-week

SA National Parks Week offers free access to most of the 21 national parks for day visitors. This initiative aims to encourage South Africans to explore their natural heritage and foster a sense of ownership.

05/09/2026

If you’re a South African citizen, or resident, you could suddenly have the perfect excuse to spend a day in a national park you might normally drive past…

It’s South African National Parks (SANParks) ‘7 days of free entry’ week coming up!

Free entry next week is real, but here are the main points you should be aware of:

• The main dates are 7-13 September, 2026

• You’ll need your valid South African ID, and the kids will need valid ID/birth certificates

• Participating parks are as follows: Agulhas, Bontebok, Table Mountain, Tankwa Karoo, Addo Elephant, Camdeboo, Karoo, Mountain Zebra, Garden Route, Golden Gate Highlands, Mapungubwe, Marakele, |Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld, Kgalagadi and Mokala

• Parks with shorter dates of 7-11 September 2026 only are Kruger, West Coast and Augrabies Falls (not the weekend for them)

• Places not included: Namaqua National Park; Boulders Penguin Colony; Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, and the Cape Agulhas Lighthouse is still charging.

• The FREE part is the day entry / conservation fee. It does NOT include any accommodation, guided activities or game drives.

It’s a fabulous opportunity for a great day out spotting birds and wildlife, walking trails and exploring nature in breathtakingly scenic surroundings, for all ages. I’d do it, if I lived in South Africa!

Remember to take your up-to-date ID with you, and check the SANParks website before leaving home because visitor limits or conditions of entry may vary on the day, so it’s worth checking.
https://www.sanparks.org/events/sa-national-parks-week-2026



Image credit Hajakelly, Shutterstock

05/09/2026

THE BRIEF | Saturday 5 September

There is a free entry open right now, it closes on 13 September, and accommodation is named on the eligible list.

On 4 September FlySafair turned its Business Booster competition into the Travel Booster, aimed at the tourism sector. Entries close on 13 September 2026.

The package, as published by FlySafair:
- Four winners
- Each package valued at more than R350 000
- 10 return domestic Business Class flights
- A full page feature in FlySafair's digital InFlight magazine
- Brand exposure on the FlySafair website and its social media, which the airline puts at more than 1.5 million followers
- Car hire coupons from First Car Rental
- Business solutions from Vodacom SA

Who can enter. Registered South African tourism businesses. The published list names accommodation providers, attractions, tour guides and experience operators. You need to be trading already and able to handle the extra interest if you win.

What the entry asks for. Five things: who you are, what makes your offering worth travelling for, your impact on your community, where you want to grow, and what national visibility would let you do. Judging is on tourism appeal and uniqueness, storytelling, growth potential, local and community impact, contribution to domestic tourism, and fit with the campaign.

FlySafair CMO Kirby Gordon said: "South Africa has extraordinary tourism offerings, from hidden gem accommodation to incredible guided experiences."

Entries are through the page FlySafair has published at flyfa.me/travel-booster.

Why this matters to a guest house owner.

The flights are the least of it. A full page in an inflight magazine, plus a feature pushed to an audience that size, is exposure a six room guest house cannot buy at any sensible price. Four of those are going to be handed out in the next few weeks.

The entry is free. The only cost is the hour it takes to write it, and it is the same hour you should be spending on your Booking.com description anyway. The questions are almost identical. What is your place, what is around it, why would someone travel for it. If you write that once, properly, you can use it in five other places.

Two practical notes. Judging leans on community impact and domestic tourism, which is where an owner run guest house is stronger than a lock box flat, so write about that rather than about your thread count. And if you do win, you have to be able to take the bookings, so do not enter with three rooms out of service.

Eight days. That is the whole story.

And a reminder. Sho't Left Travel Week runs from Monday 7 September to Sunday 13 September, with up to 50 percent off selected tourism products.

Sources:
https://www.bizcommunity.com/article/flysafair-launches-travel-booster-for-tourism-businesses-853733a
https://lifestyleandtech.co.za/business/article/2026-09-04/flysafair-evolves-its-business-booster-into-the-travel-booster-a-new-platform-dedicated-to-south-africas-tourism-economy
https://www.gauteng.net/whats-on-g/shot-left-travel-week-returns/

FlySafair

04/09/2026

04/09/2026

Fun fact: Addo isn't Big 5. It's Big 7.

Elephants, lions, leopards, rhino, buffalo plus great white sharks and southern right whales in its marine section.

Addo Elephant National Park is the only park in the world where you can claim all seven. It started in 1931 with just 11 remaining elephants given a safe place to be. Today? Over 600 call it home.

4 days to go. Check your park's participation dates and join the celebration of our natural and cultural heritage: https://shorturl.at/oeg1D