S. African government urged to revoke new visa rules

The South Africa tourism industry on Thursday urged the government to scrap the new visa rules which have led to drastic drop in the arrival of foreign tourists.

South Africa is set to lose 140,000 foreign air passengers per annum due to the regulations, David Frost, CEO of the Southern African Tourism Services Association, told reporters in Johannesburg.

As a result, South Africa will lose 7.5 billion rand (about 551 million U.S. dollars) every year in tourism revenue, Frost said.

The tourism industry has written directly to Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, urging him to scrap the visa regulations immediately, according to Frost.

Ramaphosa is leading an inter-ministerial committee to review the regulations.

Since the government implemented new visa regulations requiring children to present unabridged birth certificates in June, the number of air passengers under 18 years of age travelling to and from the country fell 50 percent year-on-year in June and July, Frost said.

Total overseas tourist arrivals fell 13 percent, including a 27 percent decline from China, he said.

Under another set of visa rules implemented in May last year, tourists are required to apply for visas in person, making it much more difficult for tourists to get visas in cities where there is no South African visa office.

The government has rejected repeated calls for removal of the visa rules which it says are necessary for safeguarding national security and combatting child trafficking.

Citing figures from the Tourism Business Council of South Africa, Frost said the new rules will reduce the total number of annual foreign tourists by 578,000.

Frost said these rules are "irrational" and should be abolished immediately. Endit