Minister De Lille in India to woo tourists to visit South Africa

With Indian travellers’ spending on outbound tourism expected to grow from $18.82 billion in 2024 to $55.39 billion in 2034; South Africa’s Minister of Tourism Patricia de Lille led a delegation in the Asian country in a bid to grow arrivals between the two nations.

“We are here to ensure that South Africa benefits from that growth,” averred the minister during her trip to New Delhi, India.

She added that in return, Indian travellers would have the “most beautiful and memorable holiday experience” in South Africa, with “our warm, welcoming people, excellent cuisine, breath-taking natural landscapes and so much more”.

De Lille is in India and the focus of the visit is to strengthen present collaborations and lay the groundwork for a shared future, with tourism playing a pivotal role in this partnership.

In October, speaking at the launch of the Summer Season Campaign in Bloemfontein, in the Free State, De Lille said she was looking forward to the Indian trip.

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On-the-ground

On Tuesday De Lille met with India’s Minister of Tourism, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, where she provided updates on South Africa’s visa regime and efforts to secure a direct flight between India and South Africa.

The minister also engaged Indian tourism trade, tour operators and associations, business leaders, government and media to work in closer collaboration to grow arrivals between South Africa and India.

During the aforementioned Summer Season Campaign, the national chairperson of the Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (FHASA), Rosemary Anderson said South Africa’s visa regulations have made it hard for Chinese and Indian tourists to visit South Africa.

“We don’t have a welcoming visa system for two of the largest markets. China are the biggest travellers worldwide now and then India is the second largest incoming market now,” Anderson told The Citizen at the time.

Currently, Indian tourists account for only 3.9% of all international visitors to South Africa and Mzansi’s tourism minister wants that number to grow.

The biggest barrier to increasing arrivals between South Africa and India is the lack of direct flights and visa regime that takes a long to process.

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Removing red tape for tourists

In collaboration with the Department of Tourism, the Presidency, Operation Vulindlela, and the State Security Agency, the Department of Home Affairs recently announced the creation of an innovative new Trusted Tour Operator Scheme (TTOS) for visas targeting India and China.

The TTOS will remove some of the key obstacles standing in the way of South Africa becoming a favoured tourism destination for Indian tourism.

Through TTOS, vetted and approved tour operators from India will be invited to register with Home Affairs.

In exchange for undergoing thorough screening up-front and assuming responsibility for travellers in their groups, the Department of Home Affairs will for the very first time process group applications from Indian tourists travelling with approved operators.

“India is the fifth largest global economy and has a growing middle class. Indian tourists are amongst the top spenders globally and are set to become the fourth largest global travel spenders by 2030,” said De Lille.

“South Africa must tap into this market more to grow tourism between our countries and for South Africa to reach our target of 15 million arrivals annually by 2030.” De Lille said.

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