Coupling SA’s recent visa reforms with better flight schedules and additional route networks from high-volume locations such as China and India will bolster the country’s tourism industry to new heights.
This is according to Brett Hoppé, manager of Sun International’s flagship Sun City resort, who said the industry’s years-long lobbying for the relaxation of visa requirements was beginning to bear fruit with a raft of recent visa-easing regulations resulting in a rise in visitors. However, the airline sector was sluggish in adjusting to the new reality.
He said JSE-listed Sun International and the broader tourism industry relied on the aviation sector to ensure that as many travellers as possible arrived in the country, as visa regulations eased.
“It’s only going to take one or two airlines to wake up to the fact that, hang on a second, there’s a massive opportunity in direct air from China to SA, now that the visa regime has been eased,” Hoppé told Business Day. “I think when people talk tourism growth numbers, they often forget you’re not around the corner, like a European country where you can hop on a train. So we need it and we are dependent on airlift.
“We need to get people here, first and foremost,” he said. “Tourism represents jobs. The more tourists we can get on the ground the more we can move back into job-positive territory.”
While certain airlines have direct flights between SA and China, this is not the case with India.
Strict visa restrictions and a limited number of air services agreements have hampered SA’s appeal as a destination for international tourism. High operating expenses, outdated infrastructure, a lack of resources, poor management and supply chain interruptions have also plagued the airline sector.
During the peak festive season, fuel shortages, system failures and air traffic congestion bedevilled SA airports, causing flight delays and cancellations.
However, Hoppé said SA remained a “mystical, highly sought-after destination” for many travellers with “a great desire and a mystique around it”.
With a goal of 15-million tourists annually by 2030, the government is aggressively tackling the obstacles preventing foreign travel in line with the National Development Plan.
This includes changes primarily aimed at facilitating business travel and investment from countries such as Nigeria while modernising and streamlining visa application processes.
Home affairs minister Leon Schreiber launched the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme (TTOS) last year to increase tourism and create jobs in SA. The scheme, part of a five-year plan to deliver home affairs services digitally, is designed to attract more visitors from China and India.
“Countries that don’t have complicated visa regimes are very successful from a tourism growth point of view,” said Hoppé at the recent Chinese New Year celebration hosted by the Sun international flagship resort. “The Chinese market has been in decline for SA for some time, so of course, now with this recent change we expect airlifts to increase significantly.
“The Chinese market, by virtue of volume, represents a massive opportunity for SA,” he said.
African tourists
Last week, tourism minister Patricia de Lille reported that SA received about 7.9-million visitors between January and November 2024, a 5% increase over the previous year. The rise was mostly due to the 5.5% jump in African tourists to
6.1-million. About 2-million tourists from foreign markets were recorded for the year, marking a 3.2% increase.
Most foreign travellers to SA came from Africa, but visitors from the UK, US, Europe and Asia also frequented the country.
Robin Xu, president of the Sino-SA Chamber of Commerce, said the historical and trade ties between SA and China meant that vast numbers of Chinese people were interested in visiting SA, with demand having increased after the news of easing visa regulations
“Chinese people want to come here and sightsee in this beautiful country,” he said. “If the visa issues can be sorted out, that will be a fantastic outcome for the Chinese people who want to come to SA.”
Over the past two years, Sun International’s flagship resort, Sun City, has achieved record profitability thanks to a combination of its gaming and hospitality services.
Though he would not be drawn on specifics, Hoppé said the group was expecting “similarly strong” results for the year to December. Moreover, he said it expected “significant numbers to increase from China” in 2025.
Sun International awaits the decision of the Competition Tribunal regarding the acquisition of Peermont Holdings after the Competition Commission recommended the tribunal prohibit it.
The purchase offers Sun International a rare chance to operate one of the biggest, most lucrative and best-quality casinos in a major city and own a collection of gaming and hospitality assets of considerable size and calibre.
Sun International’s share price was up 1.16% to R40.26 by market close on Monday.
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