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South Africa has launched the new visa scheme for Asians, especially for Indians and Chinese, which is a 90-days Visa Free Travel opportunity. They have introduced a new Trusted Tour Operator Scheme (TTOS) with the goal of drawing more travelers from China and India to the nation.
According to the Home Affairs Department, the program was scheduled to go into effect in January 2025. It anticipated a drastic increase in job creation in the tourist industry and modernize the visa application procedure.
However, the goals of TTOS is to eliminate major barriers that have prevented travelers from the second and fifth-largest economies in the world from choosing South Africa as their vacation destination. At this moment, 3.9% of all foreign visitors to South Africa are Indian.
Considering this, the Department of Home Affairs, is working towards their goal to remove the obstacles to tourism from these important markets in order to solve the ‘unacceptable economic underperformance’ in conjunction with the Department of Tourism, the Presidency and Operation of the team.
As per the sources, the program is a response to the Trusted Employer Scheme’s (TES), which is an achievement in streamlining the visa application process for companies who are looking to hire vital talent. Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber ordered that a similar strategy should be implemented after being inspired by TES.
TTOS is an initiative by South African Department of Home Affairs, which is introduced to facilitate the travel for tourists from non-visa exempt countries such as India and China. The Home Affairs Department of South Africa said that the scheme will allow the approved tour operators to register with the department and submit the group visa applications for their travellers, in streamlining the process and cutting through red tape.
The applications will be handled by a special team to ensure quick and efficient processing, by removing the delays that have often plagued the tourism sector of South Africa.
Furthermore, South Africa is setting its sights on increasing the number of Indian visitors from 16,000 to 100,000 by the end of the year.
Currently, Indian tourists has received 3% of South Africa’s international visitors and officials are very keen to grow this number. By making it easier for Indian tourists to obtain visas, the country hopes to see more Indian travellers choosing South Africa as their destination.