The Home Affairs Department has gazetted an unrestricted system aimed at bringing more tourists from China and India.
Home affairs spokesperson Siya Qoza said the department gazetted the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme (TTOS) on Monday to supercharge tourism from the two countries.
“In a ground-breaking move to enhance the job creation that flows from increased tourism, the Department of Home Affairs is proud to announce the gazetting of the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme, just two months after work began on this scheme,” Qoza said.
“The TTOS was conceptualised by the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber, following consultations with the tourism sector and the minister of tourism about the way in which visa inefficiency and red tape throttle South Africa’s ability to attract more tourists from these two burgeoning source markets.
“Research indicates that boosting tourism by only 10% per year can increase annual economic growth by 0.6% and create thousands of new jobs for South Africans.”
“To resolve bottlenecks and reposition Home Affairs as an economic enabler, the department has today gazetted a call for expression of interest by established tour operators from South Africa and abroad who wish to sign up to the scheme to bring more tourists from China and India to our country.”
Reduced red tape
He said Chinese tourists made over 100-million outbound trips in 2023, with South Africa receiving only 93 000 of these arrivals.
In comparison, a country like Australia attracted over 1.4-million visitors from China in 2023, said Qoza.
“At the moment, Indian tourists account for only 3.9% of all international visitors to South Africa — and China for only 1.8%.
“TTOS is designed to overcome concrete problems, including challenges with processing group visa applications from these countries, capacity constraints at foreign missions, and language barriers,” said Qoza.
He said approved tour operators will benefit from reduced red tape and enhanced turnaround times on visa applications they submit for large tour groups.
A dedicated team of adjudicators will handle all TTOS applications to ensure prompt and trustworthy processing.
In turn, operators will be responsible for any legal violations made by tourists travelling under their banner, according to Qoza.
Qualification critiria
“The qualifications criteria for the scheme were drawn up through public consultation with the tourism sector and other key stakeholders.
“All applications to TTOS will be fairly and transparently adjudicated according to a points-based system that allocates points on the basis of a company’s legal compliance, operating experience, proof of operational capacity, and cross-country collaboration.
“A minimum of 12 months’ operational experience will be a prerequisite for an applicant to be considered.
“The call for expression of interest will be open for a period of 30 days, whereafter Home Affairs will, in collaboration with other departments, assess and secure vet applications with the aim of enrolling a first group of tour operators.
“Our target remains to welcome the first tourists brought to South Africa through TTOS in January 2025.
“Home Affairs will consider further intakes for the scheme in the future, depending on internal capacity and the success of the rollout.”
Qoza said in order to build awareness around this scheme, the department has also launched a distinctive TTOS logo that “communicates our commitment to growing tourism to South Africa in a secure and efficient manner”.
“Additionally, as a contribution towards our apex priority of digital transformation, Home Affairs has digitised the application process for TTOS,” he said.
Premier tourism destination
Schreiber welcomed the gazetting of the TTOS.
“I salute the officials who have been working overtime to bring this pathbreaking scheme to life,” said Schreiber.
“The speed at which Home Affairs has moved from conceptualisation to execution on TTOS demonstrates our deeply held commitment to supporting our colleagues in the Department of Tourism and in the tourism sector in order to create thousands of new jobs for the people of South Africa.
“I extend my thanks to the minister in the presidency and the minister of tourism for their support and collaboration on this work.
“Our country should be one of the premier tourism destinations on earth, and we at #TeamHomeAffairs are playing our part to turn this vision into reality.”
