CAPE TOWN: South African’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”. About 15% or 1.4-million tourists coming to the country will be affected by the regulations, the report says.
