Travel

Around 13,000 potential tourists to South Africa last year were turned away at foreign airports because they were not in possession of correct documentation to enter the country.

Tourism industry insiders have rubbished claims that the weaker rand will bring more tourist to South Africa.

One positive thing that came from South Africa being downgraded to junk status is that a weaker rand makes South Africa a better value-for-money option for overseas tourists.

South Africa might battle with the Kiwis on the cricket pitch, but on the political and tourism front South Africa’s ‘tourism terminator’ has bowled them for a duck. 

Cape Town and Johannesburg are among the top five cities in Africa to offer AirBNB accommodations as the international application driven online room rental service plans to double its customer numbers in Africa to 1.5 million by the end of this year (2017).

In what seems to be the biggest pipe dream of our lifetime the South Africa government believe that visa-free travel to the EU countries might still be on the cards.

Long queues and dispair at the gateway to southern Africa - OR Tambo International Airport - might be something of the past if the Department of Home Affairs can actually put their money where their mouths are.

South African minister of home affairs, Malusi Gigaba, (also known as South Africa's 'tourism terminator' has severely been criticised for introducing a visa application process for New Zealanders intending to travel to South Africa, which entails traveling to Wellington to apply in person.

South African tourism numbers can expect to get an unexpected shot in the arm as Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana resume the issuing of their UniVisa, better knows as the KAZA Visa – a single visa regime issued at the airports of Harare, Lusaka or Gaborone.

Kiwis will now have to apply for a visa to visit South Africa and tourism experts say this will only lead to more job losses in the travel and hospitality sector.

The chaos clearing customs at OR Tambo International Airport (that’s Jan Smuts Airport for those of you who have been out of the country for a while) is said to calm down to a slow panic as 92 additional staff are being deployed from today (9 December) to deal with...

South Africa will be on the receiving end of several new airline routes announced for servicing Africa in the New Year.

While South Africa’s universities are burning, several South African government departments have been summoned to appear in court to take them to task about the implementation of new immigration laws that consider current accreditations held by schools teaching English as foreign language (EFL) as insufficient to obtain study visas for...

Tourism bodies are ready to take the South African government to court to end the controversial rule that children under 18 must travel with an unabridged birth certificate (UBC).

Just when the minister rather lamely promises that travel to Europe will be easier and cheaper for South Africans, the amount of counterfeit Saffa passports have landed South Africa in so much trouble with New Zealand that South African visitors will now have to apply - and pay - for...

Don’t crack open the bubbly yet, because we are dealing with an ANC minister here - but reports suggest EU countries may ease visa regulations for South Africans (in the long run). BusinessTech.co.za quotes Home Affairs minister, Malusi Gigaba, as saying EU member states may relax visa requirements for South...

South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs - even if changes to the current immigration rules are taken into account - is treating its tourism sector with “utter contempt”.

South Africa’s National Treasury stands accused of killing the very Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) businesses it intended to support.

If you think a holidays should be an adventure, start with ditching the run-of-the-mill accommodation. While millions of people are living in informal settlements all across South Africa - called shanty towns or townships - most of them will not consider these abodes fit for tourists.

South Africa’s ridiculous immigration regulations with regards to children travelling with parents are about to be changed - eventually.

Tears continue to flow at international airports as families are denied boarding because of South Africa’s bizarre travel regulations which is killing our tourism industry.

It’s been a bit of a big bugger-up. Long queues at the airport and biometric machines on the blink as international travellers arrive or leave O.R. Tambo International Airlport with a feeling of being let down by pure incompetence.

It’s now eight months since an Inter-Ministerial Committee was supposed to solve the crisis caused by the requirement that minors travel with an unabridged birth certificate (UBC) to South Africa. A rule that has seen tourism numbers dwindle.

While the South African Consulate in India is still clearly as incompetent as their president in issuing visas, some good news for the South African tourism industry is that Indian visitors to SA’s sunny shores have increased with almost 17% in the first three months of this year compared to...

Great news for Capetonians living in the UK is that Lufthansa will fly from UK to Cape Town via Frankfurt this South African summer three times a week starting on 2 December.

South Africa needs to redesign its land reform policy to pay far more attention to the essential ingredients of entrepreneurship and training, says the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) in a paper published in Johannesburg this week.

By growing heritage tourism, South Africa was diversifying its offering, growing visitor numbers and strengthening its status as a preferred tourism destination.

Fly Blue Crane has received approval from South African and Namibian authorities to launch services between Cape Town and Windhoek.

Requirements for unabridged birth certificates (UBC) for minors travelling to South Africa will remain in place despite tourism bosses saying it is the main reason for losing out on worldwide tourism growth.

This year the Indaba tourism and trade show will shift its focus to business meetings.

Total international tourist and business arrivals to South Africa for February 2016 were up 18% compared with the same period last year, with 803 770 arrivals, compared with 681 216 last year.