Key players in South Africa’s tourism industry say the country’s new immigration rules, which came into effect in May, could damage the country’s tourism sector.

The regulations require that visa applications be made in person so that biometric data can be reliably collected, and that minors, or children under the age of 18, must travel with their own passports and unabridged birth certificates. This will affect not only South Africans wanting to travel abroad but also visitors arriving in South Africa from other countries.

Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba said in parliament in July that the new rules would allow for more efficient issuing of visas and easier sourcing of critical skills from overseas, while reducing the country's vulnerability to security threats. He added that the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) would fast-track visa centres and biometric-data capturing systems to mitigate disruption.

However, industry bodies are not convinced.

The Association of Southern African Travel Agents (Asata) warns that the new regulations would cause “chaos” for families who would be travelling in the next few months.

The amendment to the Immigration Act states that minors travelling to or from South Africa will be denied travel if they do not have a fully unabridged birth certificate and a valid passport.

“Our understanding is that, until recently, unabridged birth certificates were not issued automatically and that people had to apply for them. This can be a lengthy process and is a major concern for travellers. We are working with other partner associations in the business and travel community to engage with the relevant government bodies to have this new regulation delayed until there has been due consultation with the industry at large,” Asata CEO Otto De Vries says.

Although Asata is aware of and fully supports the efforts of these regulations in trying to curb child trafficking, it says the implications on industry, however, are of “grave concern”.

De Vries comments that stakeholders, such as travel agents, airlines, tour operators and airport staff worldwide need to be educated on such changes in regulations in advance, adding that the association can foresee only confusion and negative outcomes for the South African travel industry.

Southern African Tourism Services Association (Satsa) CEO David Frost agrees that there has been much alarm regarding the new regulations: “ We are an easy country to travel to, but these new regulations will become a hurdle. One also has to take into account people who travel with children and factor in those extra costs.”

He says Satsa has been actively engaging with Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom, who, in turn, has been in discussions with Cabinet. “Satsa will continue to oppose the draconian legislation that impedes the tourism potential of South Africa,” Frost says.

However, he adds that Satsa supports the need for proper regulations regarding tourism, but the heavy-handed and nonconsultative approach exhibited by the DHA has to be strongly countered.

“This extends to the imposition of biometric visa requiring applicants to appear in person, which will severely impact on growing markets such as India and China,” Frost notes, highlighting that Satsa will work with fellow associations, through the auspices of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa and the Ministry of Tourism, towards a more structured engagement with the DHA.

He adds that the new regulations will also have a fundamental impact on South Africa’s key tourist markets – North America and Europe – whose citizens do not need visas to travel to South Africa.

Jobs Threat
Consultant company Grant Thornton reported in August that the requirement of children under the age of 18 must travel with an unabridged birth certificate, or the equivalent thereof, was expected to cost South Africa 21 000 jobs a year.

The firm estimates that the requirement will result in a decrease of 270 000 international tourists a year, which, in turn, will cost the country about R9- billion.

According to the Southern African Tourism Update, this estimate exceeds the R6.8-billion in lost tourism predicted by the Board of Airline Representatives South Africa.

Head of advisory services Gillian Saunders says 670 000 children younger than 15 travelled to the country last year, with about one adult accompanying every child. “That is about 1.3-million people who will be affected by the new regulations,” she says.

The tourism market has shifted from concern to cancellation which will significantly influence the country’s tourism sector,” Saunders adds.

“The current global trend is to relax visa regulations, as countries realise that tourism and travel are important economic activities. . . South Africa is going against global practice.”

Countries such as Korea and Japan do biometric assessments at the countries’ airports and that, within six months, biometric assessments will be done on tourists arriving at nine of India’s airports.

“More than two-million South Africans travelled by air internationally in 2012 and we can assume that that number is now well over two-million,” De Vries says.

De Vries notes that Asata believes that 21% of all international travellers travelling by air abroad will be affected.

“We must keep in mind that children do not generally travel alone, they travel with either one parent or both parents, so it affects the entire travel party,” De Vries notes.

Growth & Potential
Minister Hanekom warned during a debate in parliament that the growth in the tourism sector over the past two decades had started to level off.

Last year, almost ten-million tourists arrived in South Africa. "As impressive as these numbers are, some say we may have reached a plateau. If this were the case, it would follow that some bold and innovative new initiatives are needed. We will have to use all our creative energy to get a greater share of the international tourism market and to extract the full value of tourism as an earner of much-needed foreign exchange,” he said.

He said government needed to do everything possible to ensure ease of access for tourists, including entry requirements, cost of entry, convenience and affordability of air travel

Hanekom described the local tourism industry as “the new gold”, as it directly employed 617 000, or 4.6%, of the total workforce in 2012 – more than the number employed in the country's mining sector.