Home affairs minister Leon Schreiber gazetted a trusted tour operator scheme on Monday and invited domestic, Chinese and Indian tour operators to submit expressions of interest to participate in it.
The aim is to overcome challenges about processing group visa applications from these countries, capacity constraints at foreign missions, and language barriers.
“Through the trusted tourism operator scheme, the department aims to put in place a visa regime that will attract and promote tourism,” the gazette reads.
Approved tour operators will benefit from reduced red tape and enhanced turnaround times on visa applications they submit for large tour groups. Applications will be handled by a dedicated team of adjudicators to ensure swift, reliable processing.
An agreement will be concluded with the approved tour operator that will regulate and prescribe reduced supporting documents.
Schreiber, who is confident the move will increase tourism and job creation, has targeted January 2025 as the first time tourists will be brought to SA under the scheme.
The move follows the introduction of a trusted employer scheme and far-reaching changes to critical skills, as well as general and remote working visas which are expected to facilitate the acquisition of foreign personnel to the country.
Applications to participate in the scheme will be adjudicated according to a points-based system that allocates points on the basis of a company’s legal compliance, operating experience, proof of operational capacity, and cross-country collaboration.
Visa inefficiency
The call for expression of interest will be open for 30 days. Further intakes for the scheme will be considered in future, depending on internal capacity and the success of the rollout.
The scheme was conceptualised by Schreiber after consultations with the tourism sector and tourism minister Patricia de Lille on the way in which visa inefficiency and red tape throttles SA’s ability to attract more tourists from India and China.
Home affairs said in a statement that research indicated boosting tourism by only 10% per year could increase annual economic growth by 0.6% and create thousands of jobs.
“Chinese tourists made more than 100-million outbound trips in 2023, with SA receiving only 93,000 of these arrivals. In comparison, a country such as Australia attracted more than 1.4-million visitors from China in 2023.
“Indian tourists account for only 3.9% of all international visitors to SA and China for only 1.8%,” the statement reads.
To qualify for membership of the scheme a domestic tour operator, business or organisation needs to demonstrate that it adheres to the regulatory requirements in the tourism sector, that it has relevant experience in facilitating tour groups, and that it has sufficient insurance to cover all the travellers to SA.
Among other requirements to earn points, Chinese, Indian and SA tour operators will earn 30 points if they have three years’ experience, 20 points if they have two to three years’ experience, 30 points if they have brought more than 300 tourists to SA over the previous 12 months and 20 points for bringing 150-300.
Partnering with an SA tour operator based in SA will earn Indian and Chinese operators 20 points, and SA-based operators will earn 20 points if they are partnered with tour operators in China and India.
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