New visa rules hit South Africa tourism
Print Edition
South Africa’s new visa regulations have badly hurt the country’s key tourism sector as visitors dry up from key markets such as China.
Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom said figures for the first quarter of the year showed a “worrying drop” since a series of stringent regulations were imposed in an attempt to tackle child trafficking. “The fact is there has been a considerable drop in tourism .... it is a worrying drop,” Hanekom said.
According to Statistic South Africa, tourists from China decreased by 38 percent in the first quarter compared to the previous period in 2014. India was down by 13 percent. Overall tourist arrivals fell 6 percent, the biggest decline since 2009.
Part of the regulations demand that visitors apply in person for visas at South African embassies to have their biometric information captured.
Children are also required to have unabridged birth certificates in addition to their passports when entering or leaving the country, creating widespread confusion.
Tourism industry players have warned that the new laws pose a major risk to the sector, which contributes 9.5 percent to the country’s GDP.
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