South Africa receives first group of Chinese tourists under TTOS visa regime

South Africa’s Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber has announced that the first group of tourists to visit South Africa through Home Affairs’ new Trusted Tour Operator Scheme (TTOS) have arrived in the country.

In a press statement, the South African Government says that a group of 15 Chinese tourists landed at Cape Town International Airport on Sunday night where they were officially welcomed by a delegation that included Schreiber, South African Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde, Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and other tourism stakeholders.

The statement adds that as the 15 members of the tour group entered the arrivals hall, they were welcomed by a festive South African band and atmosphere. Prior to their arrival, the group was also welcomed by the flight crew on board their flight to Cape Town.

According to the statement, TTOS was created by Ministry of Home Affairs of South Africa in response to the fact that visa struggles caused South Africa to receive only 37,000 tourists from China and only 79,000 from India in 2023, despite the fact that more than 100 million people travel from these two countries every year.

Thanks to TTOS, vetted tour operators are now able to submit group applications for tour groups from China and India through a secure digital platform, and receive their outcomes digitally without the need to travel, queue or fill in any forms.

The statement adds that as a result of this embrace of digital transformation, the visas for the tour group that arrived last night were securely processed within just six hours, whereas outcomes previously took so long that prospective tourists even missed their flights.

During the first week of TTOS’ existence, the Department has already issued hundreds of additional visas to tour groups that otherwise would not have visited South Africa, with all outcomes issued digitally within a matter of hours.

“This is a seminal moment for Home Affairs as we turn into reality our commitment to become an enabler of economic growth to create jobs. Within a few short months, we have delivered on our pledge to use digital transformation to enable large tour groups from China and India who otherwise would not have come to our country due to visa struggles, to travel to South Africa,” says Schreiber.

Leon Schreiber

“Research has shown that for every 12 tourists who visit South Africa, one new job is created. Therefore, our welcoming of the first tour group of 15 Chinese visitors last night is also a celebration of the fact that we have created the very first new job through TTOS. This is the real-world, tangible impact that our work has in improving the lives of South Africans. I look forward to these numbers growing substantially over the coming year, as we accelerate our work to use digital transformation to enable the tourism sector to create new jobs for the people of South Africa,” he adds.

Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille had been advocating for easier visas and better connectivity with India and China in order to tap the true potential of these two underperforming source markets. On her recent visit to India, De Lille announced that TTOS would be implemented shortly and held several meetings with Indian travel trade as well as airlines to boost Indian tourist arrivals in South Africa.