TimesLive Premium writes that Covid-19 has fundamentally changed global travel, and SA needs to get with the programme or risk missing out on new opportunities.
That was the take-home message from a gathering of several top hoteliers in Cape Town on Wednesday. While Sun International has seen a welcome return of foreign visitors, SA is missing out on a post-Covid tourism bonanza as it fails to resolve its cumbersome visa requirements, according to Sun International COO Graham Wood. While many prime tourist destinations are simplifying visa requirements for visitors, SA’s visa regime is said to be too complicated. In addition, the country needs to address skills training in the tourism sector to realise the huge job-creation potential. “It’s absurd,” Wood said of the disjuncture between SA’s unemployment figure and unrealised tourism potential. The country urgently needed to make tourism “a priority industry”, he stated. Wood told a press briefing: “We talk about it, but we don’t do it. There’s so much more potential [for the industry] to grow and be a major employer of people.” He identified visa requirements and “airlift” — airline carrying capacity — as two key determinants of future growth. “We are making it difficult to come here — we should be giving visas on arrival,” he added. Education was another local stumbling block, which could be addressed by adding tourism and travel to curricula.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Bobby Jordan at TimesLive Premium (subscriber access only)
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