Travel pass: Impact on sea cruises still ‘in conversation’

As South Africans prepare for the holiday season, with some considering sea voyages, MSC Cruises said it is in discussion with the South African Revenue Services (Sars) over the much-talked-about travel pass.

This comes after Sars last week announced that South Africans would soon have to obtain a travel pass before they depart or enter the country after an international trip.

ALSO READ: You’ll now need a travel pass before departing or entering South Africa

Travel pass

Sars Commissioner Edward Kieswetter told The Citizen the travel pass was more than just a travel document and declaration.

“It is the flow of money across our borders that is not properly disclosed for exchange control purposes and tax,” Kieswetter said.

Ross Volk, managing director of MSC Cruises South Africa, said while Sars will be rolling out the travel pass to airports across the country starting with OR Tambo International Airport from 1 November, it has not extended it to other port destinations.

Travel pass for sea cruises?

“We are in conversation with Sars about what the impact is.

“I am not in a position at this present moment in time to comment on what impact it will have on the cruising space, but that will have to be a later conversation after our conversation with Sars about whether or not the applicability and how it’s going to work,” Volk said.  

New vessel and Covid

Meanwhile, Volk said ‘ Splendida’, an 18-deck passenger vessel that can accommodate up to 4 363 passengers and features a premium “ship within a ship concept”, will be based in South Africa’s port of Durban from November 2023.

Volk also said despite the scrapping of most international travel restrictions, MSC Cruises will still require unvaccinated guests to provide a negative Covid-19 test result 48 hours before departure on any cruise.

Jobs

Volk also elaborated on the company’s Shosholoza Academy on training and employing South Africans to make a small dent in the current unemployment rate.

“We’ve committed to a thousand contracts a year. I can tell you that during Covid, we put 846 crew members onboard our vessels globally in 2021, and in 2022 we are on track to get to those numbers as well.

“If you were onboard this last season 2022, you would have noticed that there was a dipropionate amount of South Africans onboard. So, South Africans were by far the largest population of crew members onboard as one holistic body,” Volk said.

New dock

Volk also shared a teaser about a new terminal dock that has been recently completed in KwaZulu-Natal that will be officially opened next year, with President Cyril Ramaphosa expected to be in attendance.

ALSO READ: Sars boss Kieswetter explains why you’ll need travel pass before entering or leaving SA