Visa waive to boost tourism by billions

TOURISTS and travellers from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and New Zealand will no longer require a visa to visit South Africa.

Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, CEO of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) said this will boost tourism, making a significant overall contribution to the country’s Gross domestic product (GDP).

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“We welcome the waiver. This is a step in the right direction in terms of boosting tourism, our indications are that in the next 5 years there will be 155 000 additional arrivals from these countries and those visitors are expected to spend about R3.4 billion. This will create 20 000 jobs- directly and indirectly- that’s why it is important to waive visa’s for these countries,” he said.

According to Tshivhengwa, this is just the first set of countries to be considered for a visa waive.

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“We identify countries and ask if they pose any threats to South Africa. If they are cleared, then from our side we look at the economical benefits before we issue a waiver. We put together an economical rational. This is just the first wave of countries we will be looking for more,” he said.

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