W Jordaan, Strand
I refer to the letters in Bolander of January 18 and 25 (“Cry the beloved bank balance” and “Rands and sense”), regarding visitors who should pay more than locals.
My opinion is that such a thought is a bit far fetched.
You can look at it the other way, meaning that because the rand is so bad against the euro we must get things cheaper when visiting Europe.
But the reason why I write this letter is due to my disgusting feeling that I must pay more for local accommodation because I am single.
I used to travel a lot through the Western Cape and the Southern Cape and along the West Coast, and at every hotel or B&B or guest house or game reserve I must pay a lot extra because I stay over on my own.
You can look at any advertisement in any paper or magazine or travel brochure or on the web and against the prices of every accommodation the small letters ss (single supplement) or pps (per person sharing) appear.
The result is that I do not travel as much as I used to or I arrange only day trips.
In the new South Africa you are not allowed to discriminate against race or sex or faith, but now there is discriminated against me because I am single.
I do not understand the reason behind such a rule.
The hotel or B&B or guest house or game reserve could have earned a few rand while I am staying there, but because I do not want to pay single supplement and cancel my visit, they have no income.
A year or two ago I raised this same unacceptable rule with the editors of two well-known travel magazines. The first one just ignored my enquiry.
The second one contacted me and told me he was not aware of such a rule, but he will have a look into it and maybe write an article about it in his magazine, but that was the last I heard of him, and there was no article to that effect in the next magazines.
Thank you to Bolander, for a very neat and interesting weekly paper.
