Tourism council expects R1.4bn hit

SA’s tourism industry lost R886m in direct spending last year because of tough new visa regulations, says a report commissioned by the Tourism Business Council of SA.

The study, conducted by Grant Thornton and released on Tuesday, estimates that the country would lose 100,000 tourists this year alone.

This would translate into R1.4bn in tourist spending.

The tourism industry’s efforts to lobby against the "draconian" regulations have fallen on deaf ears, while SA has experienced a 32% decline in air traffic.

Department of Home Affairs spokesman Mayihlome Tshwete said the department had not been dismissive of any figures presented.

The department would release its own report to compare tourism statistics over the past month with those of corresponding months in 2014 and 2013, to "give the public a better indication of what has been happening".

Mr Tshwete said the department would focus on implementing the regulations, not reviews.

About 15% or 1.4-million tourists coming to the country will be affected by the regulations, the report says.

Tourism Council CEO Mmatsatsi Ramawela said the report had confirmed the unintended consequences of the new regulations.

"What we are saying is, allow us an opportunity to engage and present alternative solutions … which will not impact our industry."

Official figures showed last week that the number of tourists visiting SA from China had fallen sharply, demonstrating the effect of the regulations, which require tourists to apply in person to South African consulates for their visas.

Tourism and migration figures from Statistics SA showed that the number of tourists fell 7.2%, to 681,216, between February last year and February this year.

-Andiswa Maqutu, BDlive