Johannesburg, Dec 16 (PTI): South Africa holds immense potential as a as premier travel destination for the Indian market, Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille said after returning from a recent visit to India.
De Lille led a South African delegation on a mission to directly engage with Indian tourism traders, tour operators and associations, business leaders and the media to work in closer collaboration to improve tourists from India to South Africa.
“This mission was aimed at building relationships through interactions and engagements with tourism trade, captains of industry as well as other relevant stakeholders in the tourism value chain, whilst emphasising tourism as a tool for economic growth,” de Lille said as she also commented on showcasing South Africa’s tourism offerings during the country’s G20 presidency.
South Africa took over the presidency of the G20 grouping from Brazil on December 1 this year.
“India, as a key partner and one of South Africa’s most dynamic tourism markets, holds immense potential for fostering deeper economic, cultural, and people-to-people connections. The focus of the visit to India was to strengthen collaborations and lay the groundwork for a shared future, with tourism playing a pivotal role in this partnership,” the minister said.
“India is the fifth largest global economy and has a growing middle class. Indian tourists are amongst the top spenders globally and are set to become the fourth largest global travel spenders by 2030. India is also one of the leading outbound markets. South Africa must tap into this market more to grow tourism between our countries and for South Africa to reach our target of 15 million arrivals annually by 2030,” de Lille said.
The minister said that currently Indian tourists account for only 3.9 per cent of all international visitors to South Africa so there was a need to do a lot more to grow this share and attract more arrivals from India.
“We want to attract more arrivals from India by making it easier for travellers to travel to South Africa through an improved visa regime and improved air route development,” de Lille said as she highlighted developments in this regard.
These included discussions between South African national carrier SAA, and several Indian airlines to reintroduce a direct flight from South Africa to India that was discontinued some years ago.
This has been one of two major hindrances cited by both business and holiday travellers from India.
The other is the long delays in issue of visas, which De Lille said was being addressed through the creation of a new Trusted Tour Operator Scheme (TTOS) for visas targeting India and China.
“The TTOS will remove some of the key obstacles standing in the way of South Africa becoming a favoured tourism destination for Indian tourism. Through TTOS, vetted and approved tour operators from India will be invited to register with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA).
"In exchange for undergoing thorough screening up-front and assuming responsibility for travellers in their groups, the DHA will for the very first-time process group applications from Indian tourists travelling with approved operators,” the minister said.
“Indian travellers spending on outbound tourism is expected to grow from $18.82 billion in 2024 to $55.39 billion in 2034. We want to ensure that South Africa benefits from that growth and in return the Indian traveller will have the most beautiful and memorable holiday experience having experienced our warm, welcoming people, excellent cuisine, breath-taking natural landscapes and so much more,” de Lille said.
“From our previous engagements and research, we have discovered that Indian travellers are looking for magical, authentic, memorable experiences. South Africa has all of this with many Instagram worthy landscapes and experiences and most of all, our best asset – friendly, welcoming people.
“In South Africa, Indian travellers will find enriching and rejuvenating experiences with many options of fun filled adventure and experiences and amazing sites to do a social media brag about. We have vibrant offerings for young people with exciting social and adventure activities and a variety of offerings for families,” the minister added. PTI FH SKY SKY
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