South African Tourism (SA Tourism) has warmly welcomed Government’s decision to open borders to international leisure and business travellers from anywhere around the globe.
“We are excited by the full opening of our international borders because this is a strong testament of the fact that we are open for both business and leisure travel. This opening brings certainty for South Africa, as a travel destination putting us back on the map and on the radar for many travellers who want to come explore our beautiful country,” says SA Tourism Chief Executive Officer, Mr Sisa Ntshona. The scrapping of travel bans for travellers arriving from high-risk countries was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa last week and came into effect on 11 November 2020. Other travel requirements remain in place. For example, all travellers must supply a negative PCR (polymerase chain reaction) COVID test on arrival in South Africa, which is not older than 72 hours from the date of departure from their country. “While we know that there won’t an immediate influx of tourists as other countries are now experiencing second waves of the pandemic and have imposed travel restrictions for their citizens, we look forward to welcoming those tourists that are able to come. They can finally get to enjoy the wide-open spaces, scenic landscape, unique and authentic cultural experiences that South Africa has to offer,” says Ntshona.
These achievements are positive indicators that a healthy recovery is possible, especially when paired with the globally-benchmarked health and safety protocols that the South African tourism industry has put in place.
