Last night, along with the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr. Leon Schreiber, Minister Patricia de Lille and other government and tourism stakeholders welcomed the first group of visitors from China at Cape Town International Airport.
An exciting and truly a South African welcome, the Minister was pleased to welcome the 15 tourists and tour guides who arrived in South Africa a few days after the Ministry of Home Affairs had processed the visas through the new TTOS visa initiative.
“This was an exciting moment for this groundbreaking initiative in which TTO provides a faster and more seamless process for travelers from India and China. We worked tirelessly to make this happen with the Ministry of Home Affairs. I commend Minister Schreiber and the team at Home Affairs.
Last year, the Inter-Ministerial Committee with Tourism Bureau, the Ministry of Interior, the National Security Agency, and the Presidential Office of Operation Valendrera were established to tackle the issue of the visa system.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has announced a groundbreaking trustworthy tour operator scheme that will greatly facilitate the process and enable a seamless visa application process for travelers and tour operators from India and China.
From February 12, 2025, the first group of 65 approved tour operators from South Africa, India and China began processing their visa applications through TTO.
India and China have been identified as two major source markets for growing South Africa's arrivals for many tourists traveling internationally from these countries.
Currently, South Africa has received 41,600 arrivals from India and 79,700 from China. This was the international arrivals of a minority shareholder in the total arrivals in 2024, totaling 8.9 million.
“The TTO is a massive victory for the tourism and business events sector, and the Tourism Bureau will use the new visa initiative to grow tourism arrivals to South Africa, promoting inclusive economic growth and job creation.”
Through targeted outreach engagement in India and China, TTOS development, electronic travel approvals and digital NOMAD visas were shared with these two major source markets, allowing tour operators to register and use these new visa processes.
“We are very excited about these visa developments and what it means for the growth of the tourism sector. There is no doubt that TTOS will exponentially increase arrivals from India and China.
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