The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has announced a new preferred visa system that will be implemented in January 2025, which it hopes will increase tourism from China and India to South Africa.

Currently, China and India require visas when visiting South Africa.

The DHA said that Chinese tourists made over 100 million outbound trips in 2023, however, South Africa received only 93,000 of these visitors, in comparison to other countries, such as Australia, which attracted over 1.4 million visitors from China in 2023.

Currently, Indian tourists account for 3.9% of all international visitors to South Africa, and China for only 1.8%.

Home Affairs plans to launch the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme (TTOS) to cut down the red tape of visa applications to make South Africa a more appealing tourist destination for these countries.

Under the proposed TTOS, approved tour operators from India and China will be able to register with the DHA for fast-tracked visas.

Approved tour operators will screen the applicants before submitting the visa applications and assume responsibility for travellers in their groups, thereafter the department will process group applications from Chinese and Indian tourists travelling with the approved operators.

A dedicated team from DHA will handle the TTOS tourist visa applications to ensure swift and reliable processing.

The TTOS was developed in collaboration with the Department of Tourism, the Presidency and Operation Vulindlela.

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said that the regulations for the TTOS will be published shortly, as well as information on how tour operators can apply with the Department of Home Affairs ahead of the scheme’s rollout in January 2025.

IOL Travel