Travel confusion not helping the cause

You would think after six months of being so-called experts when it comes to lockdown regulations, government’s communication to the public and all stakeholders would improve, and they would learn from the mistakes made.

But it’s not the case.

The latest in a long line of blunders is the confusion over South Africa’s Level 1 travel restrictions.

International travel was unbanned from 1 October for leisure and business, provided travellers weren’t from high-risk countries.

How government decided which countries are high-risk is also not entirely clear, but that’s a different issue entirely.

The new problem facing tourism in this country is that Cogta regulations treat airline crew the same as passengers with regards to health regulations and entry requirements.

Naturally, a number of airlines have since cancelled all flights to and from South Africa after initially returning.

Carla da Silva, chairperson of the board of airline representatives of South Africa, told eNCA: “This is not practical because the crew is already subjected to the necessary testing and seven to 14 days test cycles under the respective Civil Aviation authorities regulations of the various countries.They are already in quarantine and in a safe bubble environment. Considering how many flights there are and the crew interchange, this is not practical. The problem is that they haven’t been able to distinguish between the passengers and the crew.”

She added: “Airlines cannot operate under these circumstances. It’s also not been requested anywhere else in the world.”

Opening our borders was always going to be complex, and we sympathise with those that are making the decisions. However, tourism and travel will play a huge role in resurrecting our economy.

Any confusion on the way forward is not going to help our cause.

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