Hanekom: SA could migrate fully to e-visa system as early as next year

Source: Fin24, 06/11/2018

London �` If all goes according to plan, South Africa will be migrating
fully to the use of an e-visa system for foreign travellers next year,
Minister of Tourism Derek Hanekom told tour operators at the World
Travel Market (WTM) London on Monday.
A pilot programme will be rolled out soon with the support of the High
Commission of New Zealand, he said.
Hanekom also assured those present at his trade briefing that the
negative impact of SA’s visa requirements �` especially related to
children travelling �` will hopefully soon be something of the past as
new visa regulations are expected to be Gazetted soon.
“SA is here at WTM London because it is one of the premium tourism
events in the world. Last year, there were 5 000 exhibitors as well as
media from all over the world,” Hanekom told Fin24.
He said President Cyril Ramaphosa made it clear that SA must make it
easier for tourists.
“It is about finding a balance between the global effort to fight
child trafficking and enabling children to travel,” said Hanekom.
“We want to send out a message of reassurance that these visa
difficulties are a thing of the past. We have put off families who
wanted to travel and now we are saying, `We are a popular family
destination and will make it easy for families to travel together`.”
For Hanekom, SA’s strong tourism selling point is that the country has
a diverse offering all within one country.
“Yes, we have safaris and the Big 5. We also have experiences to suit
every pocket �` from affordable to the upper end of luxury experiences
in private game reserves,” he said.
“We also have so much else - beaches, the city vibe, local culture,
history and culinary offerings as well as adventure tourism.”
As for the challenge of safety and security concerns regarding SA as a
tourism destination, Hanekom said the message being sent out is that
something is being done about it.
“Just as we deal with big challenges like corruption and state capture
in our country, we deal with the challenge of crime by escalating the
struggle against it and the most popular tourist places are safe. We
want to make them even more safe,” he said.
The Department of Tourism will, for instance, train and deploy 1 400
safety monitors as part of the expanded public works programme.
“Our message has consistently been that, although we have high crime
and unemployment, we are systematically stabilising our country and
creating a safe tourism experience,” said Hanekom.