Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (FHASA) national president Rosemary Anderson said South Africa’s visa regulations made it difficult for Chinese and Indian tourists to visit South Africa.

“We do not have a welcoming visa system for two of the largest markets. China is now the largest traveler in the world, and India is now the second largest inbound market,” Anderson told the Citizen.

“We have made it difficult for the Chinese to visit South Africa. You had to go to an embassy or something, which takes four or five to six months to get a visa,” she explained.

Anderson spoke to The citizen at the launch of the summer season campaign in Bloemfontein in the Free State, which was officially launched by Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille, who said work was underway to ease regulatory red tape visas.

The launch was attended by the Prime Minister of the Free State, Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae, the MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism in the Free State, Ketso Makume, various industry stakeholders including the Free State Department of Economic Development and Small Business, Tourism and Environmental Affairs.

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Ease of regulation

De Lille said the official Trusted Tour Operator (TTOS) scheme, targeting increased tourist arrivals from China and India, will encourage Chinese and Indian tourists to visit Mzansi.

“We lost to two very large source markets, namely India and China. And just yesterday, the program of trusted tour operators was published in the Official Journal.

“This is now a pilot project and we must learn from it. I want to say to the tourism sector that if there is something in the paper that concerns you, let’s discuss it because this is a first for our country.

The Good Party leader said President Cyril Ramaphosa had established a ministerial committee in November 2023, comprising the Minister of Home Affairs, the Minister of Tourism and the Minister of State Security.

De Lille said the president had given the trio of ministries a task before attending the recent Brics summit in Russia.

“He told us, ‘Before I go, you have to give me your plan.’ And that’s exactly what we did, the three ministers we met, we also called on the private sector. The Tourism Business Council has therefore made funds available to us to set up a specialist agency, which can help us get through all this red tape.

The minister said she would visit India in the first week of December where she would “take this opportunity with the new visa regime to attract more Indian and Chinese tourists to our shores”.

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Encourage tourism

Anderson said countries like Scotland have programs that teach Scottish citizens the proper way to treat Chinese guests.

“Everyone is trying to go after these markets because they know how lucrative they are,” she said.

In his summer campaign speech, Anderson lamented the country’s visa regulations.

But she said the TTOS is accelerating the arrival of Chinese and Indian groups in South Africa.

“This will make it easier for them to come to South Africa and it will be done by tour operators. They are professional tour operators. Home Affairs will only deal with trusted tour operators.

Anderson added that neighboring African countries such as Tanzania and Kenya have overtaken South Africa in attracting large numbers of visitors from the two Asian countries.

“They totally capitalized on that. They have introduced new visa systems which have left us behind, as the minister said. They have left us behind, they attract more international tourists than us.

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the direct and indirect contribution of tourism to South Africa’s GDP was 8.2% in 2023.

It is estimated to increase to 8.8% by the end of 2024 and to 10.4% of GDP by 2030. Already in the first quarter of 2024, the direct and indirect contribution of tourism to South Africa’s GDP was 8.8%.

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