SA ECONOMY RESCUE PLAN TO BOOST ESWATINI TOURISM INDUSTRY

MBABANE – The Eswatini tourism industry is set for a major boost.  The anticipated improvement in the number of tourists visiting the kingdom could come about as a result of South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement of ‘immediate changes to visa architecture’, as reported by Business Day last Sunday.

This includes removal of obstacles to the travel of minors. Visitors from countries such as Eswatini, Mozambique and Botswana, among others, are currently required to produce an affidavit to prove their right to travel into South Africa with a minor.
Ramaphosa also explained that there were also plans for reducing the number of countries that require visas to enter the country.
Visits
At present, nationals from 48 countries who hold valid national passports are not required to obtain South African visas for visits of up to 90 days. These countries include, but are not limited to, Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil and Canada.

A visa is an authorisation only to the holder to proceed to the republic to report to an immigration officer at a port of entry for the purpose of being examined as to his/her ability to comply with the (entry) requirements of the Immigration Act, 2002 (Act No. 13 of 2002), as amended. However, possession of a visa does not guarantee the holder automatic admission into the Republic of South Africa. 
“We are confident that many more tourists will enter SA,” said Ramaphosa.

Reacting to the news of the proposed plan, Swaziland Tourism Authority (STA) Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Gcinithemba Fakudze said he was confident that relaxation of the visa regulations would improve the deteriorating number of tourists from the neighbouring republic.
“We are extremely excited about the proposed changes to visa regulations. We are strongly of the view that the number of tourists who visit the country will improve soon after implementation of the amendments,” said Fakudze.

Performance

According to the STA statistical release for the month of July, the aggregate performance of arrivals from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region was negative owing weak arrival figures from the kingdom’s leading source markets, Mozambique, which recorded negative 17.3 per cent and South Africa which was at negative 4.1 per cent.
In the statistical commentary, it had been explained that the weak Rand contributed to fuel prices in South Africa rising for the fifth straight month to reach E16.02 per liter.

This development reportedly worsened the already high cost of each kilometer travelled and adversely impacted the travel propensity for visitors from this market as most South African visitors to Eswatini come by road.
Happy Valley General Manager (GM) Luigi Rosi concurred that the industry would greatly benefit from an increased number of tourists that visit South Africa.

He explained that he had observed that most of overseas tourists that enter into travel to South Africa tend to also have an interest to come into the kingdom due to its unique culture, beautiful scenery and tranquil peace.

Requirements

“We welcome the decision to relax visa requirements and hope for the best,” said Rosi.
It should be mentioned that tourism has a ripple effect on the economy through improving sectors such as retail since tourists purchase food items. It also improves petroleum industry as they need to purchase fuel as well and the entertainment industry as they need to also be entertained.
“Each tourist that visits the country creates about eight jobs through the services they require as part of their day to day lives,” commented an expert in the industry.

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