NATIONAL NEWS - 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).
“We welcome the waiver. This is a step in the right direction in terms of boosting tourism, we indicate 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.
“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 economic 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.
