A recently introduced scheme by South Africa, aimed at facilitating tourists from the non-visa exempt countries, has received warm welcome from the country's hospitality industry for its potential to attract more clients from these countries, thereby boosting the county's tourism market and contributing to its economic development.
South Africa is launching a new Trusted Tour Operator Scheme (TTOS) starting January 2025 to facilitate tourists from the non-visa exempt countries, the Department of Home Affairs announced on Sept. 2.
The department said in a statement that red tape will be removed, and visa processing efficiency will be enhanced for tourists from non-visa exempt countries such as China and India.
According to the statement, Chinese tourists made over 100 million outbound trips in 2023, but South Africa only received 93,000 of those arrivals. Therefore, the South African government aims to change this situation through the scheme.
"We've got massive potential in terms of growing our tourism market from a country like China. At the moment, we are really under-performing and from the research that we've conducted and that we know from the tourism side as well, a lot of the blockage has to do with the red tape that is actually put in place of Chinese tourists and visitors to South Africa. So, in terms of the scheme itself, the goal here is basically to facilitate less red tape for Chinese tourists and specifically also to make it easier for large tour groups to come and visit South Africa," said South African Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber,
The scheme has been warmly embraced by the hospitality industry in South Africa.
"We (are) doing inbound tour which means we bring tourists from China to South Africa and our main market is the business delegations and exhibition groups. Also, we do customized leisure groups. If the visa application process can be efficient and simplified, then definitely it will attract much, much more clients from China," said Angela Wu, director of the travel service department at upGrowth, a marketing company in South Africa.
"So, we know, particularly the Chinese market, they love to travel in with tourists. So, that's very positive. Up to date, our visa system has made it so difficult for Chinese and Indian tourists to visit South Africa. It's just incomprehensible considering that China and India are our major BRICS partners," said Rosemary Anderson, national chair of the Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa.
Tourism is a significant contributor to South Africa's economy. Research has indicated that increasing tourism by 10 percent annually can boost annual economic growth by 0.6 percent and generate numerous new job opportunities for South African people.
South Africa's hospitality sector welcomes new travel facilitation scheme
The deadly strikes between Israel and Hamas in Gaza for more than 15 months have left over 46,000 Palestinians dead, tens of thousands injured, and the region in ruins, with homes, schools, and critical infrastructure destroyed, creating a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented scale.
The Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement in Gaza came into effect on Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the beginning of the ceasefire in a statement, after Hamas released the names of the first three female hostages set to be freed later in the day.
The ceasefire agreement, brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, marks a potential end to the nearly 470-day-long conflict in Gaza.
Adham Alkrunz, a Palestinian refugee from Khan Younis in southern Gaza, shared his personal ordeal of survival in the aftermath of the violence.
"I had a home and a family, but the conflict came and left me with no home or anything. My son was injured but miraculously survived. My whole life has been destroyed, and I have no work or anything left. We thank God that there is a truce coming so we can build and start our life again," said Alkrunz. The population of Gaza has fallen by 6 percent as a result, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.
Rami Al-Aidi, director of the Palestinian Civil Defense in Central Gaza, underscored the challenges faced by rescue teams during the war.
"There are still a lot of bodies under the rubble because we were unable to retrieve them due to Israeli bombing that was directly targeting the work of our civil defense groups," said Al-Aidi.
The toll on Gaza's education system has also been catastrophic. UNICEF reports that 95 percent of schools in Gaza have been completely or partially destroyed, depriving at least 800,000 students of access to education. The UN agency estimates that over 11,000 students and hundreds of teachers have been killed.
"In UNICEF, we are really really fearful of a lost generation, if these children are not able to go back to proper formal education in routine. What is really important to keep in mind is that this humanitarian crisis in Gaza is unprecedented. The needs of the people are unprecedented; the whole population in Gaza is in need," said Rosalia Bollen, a UNICEF communication specialist.
United Nations reports from December indicate that more than 170,000 buildings, or 69 percent of Gaza's total infrastructure, have been damaged or destroyed. Experts estimate that the reconstruction of Gaza could take years and cost billions of dollars.
For now, the priority remains ensuring the ceasefire holds and beginning the long process of rebuilding life and infrastructure. The people of Gaza wait anxiously, hoping this truce will mark the start of a more peaceful chapter.
Catastrophic conflict impact on Gaza takes years of reconstruction to heal