South Africa’s Tourism Minister, Patricia De Lille has called on African governments to harmonise their visa processes in order to grow tourism across the continent.
According to lusakatimes.com, Ms. De Lille said African must have a harmonised visa regime to make it easier for visitors to move from one country to another.
She said the continent must also simplify the e-visa application process and reduce visa costs to make Africa a more attractive destination for both Africans and international travellers.
She was speaking when she opened the 2023 edition of Africa’s Travel Indaba (ATI) in Durban on Tuesday under the theme, “Unlimited Africa”.
Zambia is represented at the Travel Indaba by Tourism Minister Rodney Sikumba and officials from the Zambia Tourism Agency.
Ms. De Lille revealed that South Africa has visa waivers for several African countries for a specified period and up to a maximum of 90 days, including SADC countries such as Zambia, Tanzania, Namibia, Angola, and Mozambique, Mauritius, Malawi and Botswana.
“We have also rolled out the e-visa system to several countries including Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo and we are expanding the e-visa system to an additional 20 countries,” she said.
Ms. De Lille also stated that to reposition African travel and tourism market, Africans have to engage in healthy and balanced collaborations and competitions.
She said competition was often considered to be the life-blood of destination marketing and tourism.
“While healthy competition can drive growth and innovation, unhealthy competition can lead to a race to the bottom, with businesses and destinations undercutting each other on price and quality,” she said.
“As the tourism industry, let us foster a culture of healthy competition, where businesses and destinations are encouraged to compete on quality and innovation. Let us remember that long-term success in the industry depends not only on competing but also on recognising the value of collaboration and partnerships.”
“So, each player in the value chain has a unique role to play, and by working together, we can create seamless and memorable travel experiences for visitors – that is the spirit of Africa’s Travel Indaba,” she said.
She said the 2023 ATI, at near the pre-pandemic scale, also demonstrated that Africans could host world-class safe events.
Earlier, Nomasonto Ndlovu, Acting Chief Executive Officer of South African Tourism (SAT), said the theme for the event was crafted with the observation of the enormous potential Africans possessed as well as their ingenuity.
“The theme for this year’s Indaba speaks directly to African countries’ immerse potential which will be showcased in the course of this expo. The energy here is absolutely electrifying and I am happy to be here today,” she said.
This year’s Indaba has attracted more than 1000 buyers from across the tourism ecosystem and just under 1 000 exhibitors with over 350 tourism products being showcased.
The attendees include destination marketing bodies, hotel groups, airlines, tour operators, and 10 African Tourism Boards and 21 African countries represented.
