South Africa will soon roll out a new visa initiative to boost the number of travellers from China and India. Titled the “Trusted Tour Operator Scheme (TTOS),” it will run from 2025 and streamline the visa process in a bid to boost job creation in the country.
TTOS has been designed to address issues that have been creating roadblocks for South Africa’s tourism sector and hampering its growth in becoming a top tourism destination. It is claimed that Indian tourists make up just 3.9 per cent of international visitors to South Africa, which is deemed an insignificant number. The Department of Home Affairs will work in collaboration with the Department of Tourism, the president’s office and Operation Vulindlela—a joint initiative of the Presidency and National Treasury—to make the tourism market more accessible for tourists from India and China, and push the growth numbers.
The yet-to-be launched initiative has been designed keeping in mind the success of the Trusted Employer Scheme (TES), which helped to simplify visa processing for those businesses that were seeking to attract critical skills. Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber proposed a similar approach to improve efficiency for non-visa-exempt countries like India and China.
With regard to how the initiative will work, it has been said that tour operators selected from India and China will be invited to register with the Department of Home Affairs. These operators, once approved, will be responsible for overseeing tourists in their groups. They will also take the responsibility for their travel.
In response, the Department of Home Affairs will handle the task of fast-tracking group visa applications, marking the first time such a system has been used for tourists. There will be a dedicated team working to handle visa applications and ensure swift processing to eliminate all the restrictions that have been previously hampering tourism from these markets.
The home affairs minister said that there will be economic benefits from this initiative, noting that the tourism sector will likely see significant growth if the initiative is successful.
(With inputs from news sources)