More than 13,000 would-be tourists denied boarding to SA in the year to June
The DA will write to Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom‚ to ask what short-term measures he has in place to counter this problem over the festive season
The contentious unabridged birth certificate regulation resulted in 13‚246 travellers being denied boarding to SA over 12 months. The number applies to the period between June 2015 and July 2016‚ according to statistics provided by the Tourism Business Council of SA, presented in the portfolio committee on tourism meeting in parliament on Friday. Taking into account that a tourist to SA spends on average R13‚000 a day‚ SA has lost potential revenue of R7.51bn because of this regulation‚ according to tourism council. DA MP James Vos said: "This once again reinforces the DA’s call to the Department of Tourism to implement e-visas‚ which will streamline tourist facilitation‚ reduce turnaround time and make visa applications safer and more reliable". Given that the festive season is around the corner‚ which brings thousands of tourists to our country‚ the DA would write to Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom‚ to ask what short-term measures he had in place to counter this problem‚ Vos said.<...
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