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TBCSA fights airport delays

Source: Tourism Update, 15/12/2016

The TBCSA has presented a contingency plan to alleviate the lengthy
delays caused by the Department of Home Affairs staff shortages at
major airports across the country. The implementation now relies on
Home Affairs.

TBCSA CEO, Mmatšatši Ramawela, says multiple interim solutions are
required to address the immediate problem.

The TBCSA put forward a multi-action proposal during a meeting on
November 4 between the Minister of Tourism, captains of the tourism
industry and National Treasury. DHA wasn`t present. Ramawela says The
Department of Tourism is meeting with the DHA and other government
departments on an unknown date to see that initiatives contained in
the proposal are taken forward.

In its short- to medium-term proposal the TBCSA has suggested that all
immigration counters remain staffed by bringing in SAPS officials to
man the stations on the departures side of the airports. "This was
done in 2010 and there were no issues of congestion despite the fact
that we were welcoming a lot of people in one go," says Ramawela.

She says the biggest requirement for officials on the departures side
is security clearance, which SAPS officials already have, so all they
would need would be a one or two-day course in order to qualify for
the task.

Ramawela says ushers are also needed to direct travellers entering
arrivals. "At the moment all they see is three queues: one for South
Africans, one for travellers who require visas and one for those that
don`t." She says this is a problem for non-English speakers who may
join the wrong queue.

Ramawela says the TBCSA and SA Tourism are willing to finance this
through the Welcome Campaign (an initiative that aims to create and
sustain engagement with industry stakeholders).

The third measure is to improve the experience of travellers standing
in queues by providing them with water and things to nibble on.

However, she says these measures are subject to the approval of the
DHA, NDT and other parties within and outside of government.

Spokesperson for the DHA, Mayihlome Tshwete, was unable to confirm
whether it would be introducing any of these measures and says only
that the Department is working with stakeholders to ensure more
efficient facilitation of travellers at ports of entry.

For the long term the parties will have to find a solution to the
`austerity` employment procedures in government, which mean that the
DHA cannot replace someone without a procedure verifying the job needs
to be filled, says Ramawela.

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