By Simon Nare
Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille was beaming with excitement and pride at the Cape Town International Airport this weekend when she welcomed the first group of Chinese tourists who arrived through the new digital Trusted Tour Operator Scheme visa initiative.
These were the first 15 tourists from China who arrived in the country with a tour guide only a few days after their visas were processed through the new system and De Lille said this was proof how seamless the new system was.
“This was an exciting moment in this ground-breaking initiative where the TTOS is providing a faster and more seamless process for visas for travellers from India and China,” said the minister.
The two Asian countries have been identified as the target market to lure tourists to the country as the tourism industry has been picking up since the devastating Covid-19 pandemic.
The first phase of the new system, which allows the application of visas digitally for individuals and groups by tour operators was launched earlier this month.
The minister said her department together with home affairs worked tirelessly for the swift implementation of the new and improved visa initiative.
The initiative came to fruition after an inter-ministerial committee comprising the two departments, the State Security Agency and Operation Vulindlela in the Presidency was established to tackle visa issues.
The system kicked into gear earlier this month with 65 tour operators from South Africa, India and China, staring to process visas.
De Lille said South Africa only receives 41,600 arrivals from India and 79,700 from China, a minor share of the country’s total arrivals for 2024 which stood at 8.9million total international arrivals.
“The TTOS is a massive win for the tourism and business events sector and the Department of Tourism will use the new visa initiatives as enablers to grow tourism arrivals to South Africa, which will in turn drive inclusive economic growth and job creation,” said the minister.
She said through targeted outreach engagements in India and China, the department has also been sharing the developments of the TTOS, the Electronic Travel Authorisation and Digital Nomad Visas with the two markets.
This was to ensure that more tour operators registered and used these new and enhanced visa processes.
“We are extremely excited about these visa developments and what it means for the growth of the tourism sector. We have no doubt that the TTOS will exponentially increase arrivals from India and China which will stimulate demand across the tourism and services sector,” she said.
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