South Africa will open two new visa centres in China in Guangzhou and Chengdu.

The announcement was made by the Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba, at the budget vote for Home Affairs on May 6.

Bradley Brouwer, SA Tourism Country Manager for China said when Deputy Director General: Immigration Services, Jackie McKay, visited China he negotiated for two centres to open and these have been approved, although more centres are needed.

“Although they will bring some relief, more centres are needed in a country as big as China,” Brouwer said.

Likewise, Terry Fenton-Wells SA Magic Tours said that two centres are not enough unless they are the first phase of a bigger plan to open more.

“When SA Magic Tours did our assessment it looked like we needed 11,” Fenton-Wells said. “I’d be happy to hear about it if its part of a roll out of multiple visa-centres. Are these the first two of ten? Or is this it?”

Since the introduction of the requirement for visa applications to be made in person, tour operators have reported a drop in travel from countries affected such as China and India by as much as 70%. These countries also showed a drop in arrivals for 2014 compared to 2013, while countries not affected by this requirement, such as the US, UK and Germany, showed a growth in arrivals for the same period.

In March SA opened seven additional visa application centres in India. The centres were opened following an extension of the partnership between VFS Global the government of South Africa.

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At the time of publication, the Department of Home Affairs did not confirm when the new centres would be opened.