South Africa’s hospitality sector has welcomed the introduction of a new travel facilitation scheme designed to boost tourism and streamline entry for international visitors.
The new visa scheme called Trusted Tour Operator Scheme (TTOS) will be launched in January 2025.
Through TTOS, vetted and approved tour operators from these countries will be invited to register with the Department of Home Affairs.
According to a statement by the Home Affairs Department, red tape will be removed, and visa processing efficiency will be enhanced for tourists from non-visa-exempt countries such as China and India.
It said Chinese tourists made over 100 million outbound trips in 2023, but South Africa only received 93,000 of those arrivals. Therefore, the South African government aims to change this situation through the scheme.
“We’ve got massive potential in terms of growing our tourism market from a country like China. At the moment, we are really under-performing and from the research that we’ve conducted and that we know from the tourism side as well, a lot of the blockage has to do with the red tape that is actually put in place of Chinese tourists and visitors to South Africa.
“So, in terms of the scheme itself, the goal here is basically to facilitate less red tape for Chinese tourists and specifically also to make it easier for large tour groups to come and visit South Africa,” said South African Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber.
Tourist visa applications processed through TTOS will be handled by a dedicated team of adjudicators to “ensure swift and reliable processing”.
At the moment, Indian tourists account for only 3.9% of all international visitors to South Africa – and China for only 1.8%.
The scheme has been warmly embraced by the hospitality industry in South Africa.
“We (are) doing inbound tour which means we bring tourists from China to South Africa and our main market is the business delegations and exhibition groups.
“Also, we do customized leisure groups. If the visa application process can be efficient and simplified, then definitely it will attract much, much more clients from China,” said Angela Wu, director of the travel service department at upGrowth, a marketing company in South Africa.
South Africa is among the 5 most visited countries on the continent.
According to the Home affairs ministry, a 10% annual increase in tourism could drive up the nation’s economic growth by 0.6% and create thousands of jobs.
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