what ‘ the new normal ’ actually means

Nobody wants to fly. Here at home there’s a big opportunity for previously prohibitively expensive resorts aimed at foreigners to attract a new local clientele.

LIFESTYLE

LIVING LA VIDA LOCAL

FOGO is the new FOMO. ‘Fear of going out’ has replaced our ‘fear of missing out’, and lockdown has made many of us agoraphobic. (Not everyone: some can’t wait to get out there again.) To be more specific, FOGF is really what we’re suffering from (fear of going far). Retailers report that shoppers are opting for local shops over their preferred outlets pre-Covid.

Globalisation is now perceived as being ‘unsafe’, both personally and in business: during lockdown, we could no longer import zips from China or many of the drugs we routinely use from India (such as painkillers, antidepressants, cancer treatments, HRT). It’s clear that every country in the world needs to become more self-sufficient. China was becoming more expensive as part of the supply chain anyway, so it makes economic sense to localise.

Meeting up for a walk or run, or arranging to shop at the same time as a friend feels like a luxury and a treat in a way that Zoom meetings don’t.

Working from home means that the perpetual quest for work-life balance is over.

Localisation has the potential to boost previously profitable businesses that have been destroyed by imports – the CMT businesses in the Western Cape, for instance,