The industry leaders said they were convinced the requirements of the visa regulations were detrimental to the sector.
At a briefing in Johannesburg yesterday themed ‘Enough is Enough’, sector associations said they had waited a long time for government to suggest solutions to help the industry recover after the recent 26% decline in airline ticketing in May to and from SA.
But far from resolving the issue, Southern Africa Travel Agents CEO David Frost said the industry had been accused of only caring about profits at the expense of children’s safety. Frost said prior to the announcement of the new visa regulations, tourist arrivals had been growing but that since the in-person visa application requirement came into effect in June 2014, there had been a systematic decline in tourist arrivals.
