Concerns raised over the impact of the visa regulations on the tourism sector

Jaimie-faith Poonah

22 June 2015

The Western Cape government says the latest trends in global travel numbers are clearly demonstrating the disastrous impact of South Africa’s visa regulations on the tourism sector.

This is as two reports have been released this week from the United Nations World Tourism Organisation and Statistics South Africa Tourism Migration, providing clear evidence that SA is closing the doors for tourists.

Ministerial spokesperson for Economic Opportunities Bronwynne Jooste said Minister Winde is very concerned with the trends we see in the UN and Stats SA reports.

Jooste said we can see that the rivals from the big countries are down and that while international rivals to the rest of Africa are intriguing, the numbers remain flat in South Africa.

“Globally we also see more destinations are making it easier to visit and here in South Africa we are doing the opposite.” Jooste said.

Jooste added that we have independent research which has found that visa regulations will cost the economy R10 billion in lost income and over R20 000 in jobs.