CASE Greyhound Coach Lines

Greyhound coach lines has been operating in South Africa (SA) for 37years until its closure due to financial constraints over the years was exacerbated by the COVID-19 travel restrictions. Around 800 staffs became unemployed after its closure.

Greyhound officially closed business on the 14^th of February 2021 but after over a year, announced its return where it started operation again from the 13 of April 2022, assisting millions of passengers with transportation services across Southern Africa.

Greyhounds operating company, Unitrans passenger, a subsidiary of JSE-listed KAP Industrial Holdings was purchased by an investment entity that is owned by a private trust.

With lockdown restrictions completely eased, the travel and tourism sector has seen a massive improvement with more people travelling across provinces. Travellers had to look forward to key routes, with direct routes to their destination or via popular stops for its initial roll-out. Travel routes included:

Johannesburg to Durban (direct)

Johannesburg to Cape Town (via Bloemfontein); Pretoria to Cape Town (via Kimberly)

Cape Town to Mthatha (via Garden Route); Mthatha to Cape Town (via Garden Route)

Pretoria to Durban (via Empangeni); Cape Town to Durban (via Bloemfontein)

Johannesburg to East London (direct)

East London to Cape Town (via Queenstown).

Question

Undertake a Porters competitive advantage analysis using cost and differentiation strategy (10marks).