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Tourism bosses plead for visa scrapping

Source: by Khulekani Magubane and Bekezela Phakathi, - Business Day, 02/10/2015

TOURISM industry leaders are pinning their hopes for the scrapping of
new visa rules on Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, as new data on
Thursday showed the regulations would shrink tourist numbers by
578,000 or 6% a year.
Data from the Airlines Association of SA showed a 50% decrease in
passengers younger than 18 years travelling to and from SA in June and
July from a year ago. The tourism industry blames the sharp drop on
new visa regulations, including the requirement of an unabridged birth
certificate for minors and in-person visa applications.
The tourism sector has been reeling following the introduction of the
contentious regulations last year. The Reserve Bank warned last month
that the visa regulations would hurt the economy.
International arrivals declined 11% year on year for the June to
August period, according to the latest figures from ForwardKeys, a
travel data intelligence company that analyses millions of booking
transactions daily. The data shows a 6.8% decline for the period
between September last year and May this year. SA`s tourism sector
risks losing R7.5bn as a result.
More than seven associations under the banner of the Tourism Business
Council of SA on Thursday pleaded with Mr Ramaphosa — the chairman of
an interministerial committee on the matter — to consider the new data
and scrap the laws.
CEO of the Southern African Tourism Services Association David Frost
said the latest figures proved that the laws were harming tourism.
Home Affairs spokesman Mayihlome Tshwete said 85% of SA`s core tourism
markets did not have visa requirements imposed on them, despite some
of them imposing such regulations on SA.
He said tourists would have to adjust to the laws as they would if
they were seeking to enter any other country.
Tourism Business Council of SA chairman Mavuso Msimang said jobs were
under threat in the industry and "overwhelming evidence" showed the
new rules were devastating for the industry.

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