The Department of Home Affairs’ Trusted Tour Operator Scheme (TTOS) – for processing group travel visas for visitors from China and India – will help repair historic underperformance and missteps that severely impacted the growth of these key source markets.
The Department of Home Affairs implemented the scheme to coincide with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s current visit to China.
“I am particularly pleased that we are able to make this announcement during the President’s state visit to China as it sends a powerful message that the Government of National Unity is serious about unlocking our country’s vast tourism and economic potential,” said Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber.
Starting in January 2025, vetted and approved tour operators from China and India will be invited to register with the Department of Home Affairs. Following upfront screening and confirmation of responsibility for their tour groups, approved operators’ group visa applications will be processed by the Department of Home Affairs.
The visa applications will be handled by “a dedicated and skilled team of adjudicators to ensure swift and reliable processing”.
Schreiber said the system is an interim measure while his department focuses on its digital transformation with a view to eventually introducing a fully automated process.
According to the Department of Home Affairs, Chinese tourists made over 100 million outbound trips in 2023 with South Africa attracting “a miniscule” 93 000 of these arrivals. Indian tourists account for only 3,9% of international visitors to South Africa and just 1,8% are from China.
The Department of Home Affairs wants to rectify this by “urgently clearing obstacles to tourism from these two major source markets”.
Important source markets
“China and India are important markets for our tourism sector. Collectively, they account for nearly 6% of our international arrivals yet their potential is far greater. The TTOS is an essential step in removing the barriers that have held us back,” said Rosemary Anderson, National Chairperson of FEDHASA.
“By simplifying the visa process, South Africa is now much more accessible and attractive to these key growth markets who we know prefer travelling in groups.”
David Frost, CEO of SATSA, welcomed the announcement, saying it came out of years of advocacy work by the private sector.
Although first prize would have been a visa waiver, he added, “this is the first practical step to try and alleviate the problem”.
The TTOS is meant to be temporary but Frost said it is based on international best practice and used by Australia, which has shown significant growth in tourists from China and India.
“The Australians had it for 10 years before they moved onto an electronic version.”
Michael Jones, Co-Founder of Create Consulting, a firm working in the Chinese travel market, said: “Due to very lengthy, not transparent and often illogical visa processes past and present, many leading outbound Chinese tour operators simply stopped proactively promoting South Africa as a tourist destination to their customers.”
Potential to attract 2 million Chinese tourists per year
“We welcome any and all reforms of China tourist visa application systems as South Africa has the potential to attract one to two million Chinese tourists per year if we get our house in order,” said Jones.
But, he added, the success of the initiative depends on some key factors:
- Competence of adjudicators dealing with the broad range of operators that make up the Chinese outbound market. “Large digital players may have a team of internationally savvy, English-fluent consultants to make these adjudicators' jobs that much easier. However, our Chinese tour operator relations team has found that more niche tour operators that cater exclusively to high-end travellers can come with demands and particular quirks of their own. Little desire to converse in English is often one of them.”
- Adjudicators need to possess the necessary market intelligence to know and prioritise the best applicants. “It's easy to get a high volume of low-quality travellers through the door but getting a more sustainable flow of higher-end travellers requires deep knowledge of the market.”
