South Africa: 600 000 Fewer Tourists Since Introduction of Visa Regulations

Source: Democratic Alliance, 17/02/2017

In the Portfolio Committee on Tourism today, it became clear that
there have been 600 000 fewer tourists since the introduction of visa
regulations.


The regulations have clearly made it harder for people to come to
South Africa.


According to industry experts, 1 job is created for every 12 tourist
arrivals. In a country with a 36% unemployment rate, this potential to
create jobs must not be jeopardized.


There is a clear pattern of declining tourists to our country since
the announcement of the introduction of visa regulations in 2013:
Year - Tourist Arrivals
2013 - 9.6 million
2014 - 9.5 million
2015 - 8.9 million
2016 - 9 million
These figures prove a decline of 600 000 visitors which equates to a
6.6% decline, revealing the negative effects of the ill-conceived visa
regulations.


Despite the overall decline in tourist figures nationally, the number
of tourists that flocked to the Western Cape during the month of
December 2016 showing a massive 29.8% increase compared to the number
of tourists during the same time in 2015.


Every day people are turned away from travelling to South Africa
because of continued confusion surrounding the requirement for
unabridged birth certificates for minors travelling to the
country.


Electronic visas will drastically cut the turnaround time for the
issuing of travel documentation, and are in fact more secure than
existing permits.


The failure to implement electronic visas will ultimately cost the
South African tourism sector by making it more difficult to attract
visitors to South Africa.


In failing to do so, government, during its announcement of the
concessions, failed to seize an opportunity to act in the best
interest of South African tourism.


Despite the threat to the sector, the President has seemingly refused
to take any action to prevent harm to jobs in tourism.


On numerous occasions, the DA has called on the government to act in
the best interest of jobs in the sector.


The time has come for him to provide answers to Parliament.


The DA, along with the tourism industry, has long held that these
regulations are disastrous for the industry and will not rest until
they are abandoned.


James Vos MP= DA Shadow Minister of Tourism