Pieter Kerkhof, Owner of Netherlands-based Sable Tours, has written an open letter after a high-profile traveller cancelled his plans after being told about SA’s requirements for travellers under the age of 18.

Dear Mr Hanekom, Mrs Xasa, Ms Moola, Ms Titus and the other honourable minister again... oh yes, Mr Gigaba, 

I know how busy everyone must be, so this is just a short note. Please just take note in your busy schedule, it might be worth thinking about.

It is late November and the usual scramble for last-minute bookings to South Africa is in full swing again.

We received a request from a client a few days ago who wanted to travel to SA in December for 10 days. His request came with the good news that budget plays a rather small role in all his travel plans and that he wanted a trip that suited his wishes.

With help from my partners in the industry, we secured the requested quality accommodation with service excellence that can be expected and we sent through a quote to him within 24 hours after he first contacted us.

After a few tweaks and questions that were answered to his satisfaction, he felt that a commitment was due and he gave us the assurance that he would like to book after his business trip from China one day later. We told the client that when travelling with his 13-year-old daughter there were regulations in place for parents with children under 18 years.

I will spare you the details but, as it turned out, the (recently) divorced father will now not be travelling in business class as per our quote with SAA to South Africa. Neither will he stay at the accommodations that we had in mind – total value R69 496,50; and that is just my payments to the accommodations. This does not include his transfers, flights with SAA, meals, activities, tips and personal spending.

I know this is not a lot of money for some at least. I know that there will be people who say that they never see one penny of it. I read the comment from Mpho this morning about Idris Elba’s same situation ...

I suppose at the end of the day it does not matter. I just sometimes wonder if the plight of children in South Africa has now been solved?

We wish you all a wonderful Christmas season and prosperous 2016.