Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille on Wednesday welcomed the Department of Home Affairs' significant progress made on the visa regime in recent months.
“We have made great strides in the past year and a key success has been our work with Operation Vulindlela in the Presidency, the State Security Agency and the Department of Home Affairs on the visa regime, particularly with the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme, which will significantly ease the visa process for travelers and tour operators from China and India as well as the Electronic Travel Authorisation and the Digital Nomad Visas,” De Lille said.
The tourism sector is a vital engine for economic growth as the country has witnessed a steady rebound over the past two years with close to 9 million arrivals to South Africa in 2024, up by 5.1% compared to 2023.
“We have been working hard with the tourism sector in South Africa, China and India to resolve the visa obstacles and the recent work by the Department of Home Affairs is to be commended.
“The Department of Tourism will use the visa enablers – the Electronic Travel Authorisation, the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme and the Digital Nomad Visas to grow tourism in South Africa, targeting key source markets - India and China.
“These visa regime enhancements will lead to increased arrivals to South Africa which will in turn assist government to achieve the goals of the GNU to drive inclusive economic growth and create jobs.
“As the Tourism sector, we are appreciative of the efforts and commitment by Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber and his department for the impressive gains made on the visa regime front,” Minister de Lille said.
On Wednesday, the Department of Home Affairs started with the implementation of phase one of the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme that will significantly improve the visa process for travelers and tour operators from India and China.
“These are two massive key source markets for South Africa that can contribute to our goal to increase arrivals exponentially. A seamless visa regime is a key to growing arrivals and we have been working well with Home Affairs in this regard and will continue to work with them to make further improvements,” De Lille said.
On Monday, Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber and De Lille addressed the first group of 65 successful tour operators from South Africa, China and India, who were accepted in the first phase of the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme.
These tour operators started making visa applications for individuals and groups on a fully digital system in a more seamless process.
“Over the past few months, we have directly engaged the tourism sector in South Africa, China and India on the visa regime and the sector in all three countries have enthusiastically welcomed these improvements.
“We are truly excited about these visa regime improvements and we cannot wait to reap the rewards of this progress in the coming months with increased arrivals from China and India, especially,” De Lille concluded. – SAnews.gov.za
