Disha Shah Ghosh - Mumbai
South African Tourism Minister, Patricia de Lille while addressing the press in Mumbai at The Trident today during her week-long visit to India, announced a slew of changes in the visa process for Indian nationals.
She said, “We have undertaken a range of measures to ease visa processing for Indian nationals, removing the additional and unnecessary paperwork. India is a key source market for South Africa, and our aim is to grow visitations from India,” she said.
The Rainbow Nation has unveiled the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme to establish a symbiotic relationship with tour operators for processing group visa applications from India. Under this facility, in the first phase 23 tour operators from India will be registered by the end of the month, with the round two selection slated for February 2025. This will reduce the group visa processing time to 3-4 days.
Secondly, South Africa has phased out the e-Visa scheme since it was cumbersome and required extensive paperwork. This is replaced by the ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization) that reduces turnaround time of visa processing to 24-48 hours, while streamlining paperwork.
Thirdly, from January 20, business travellers from India, a crucial visitor segment for SAT with India its second biggest trading market, will be able to apply for five-year multiple-entry visa. This move, SAT, believes will be a shot in the arm, and help in boosting economic ties.
Moreover, with South Africa hosting the 2027 ICC T20 Cricket World Cup, plans are afoot to offer affordable tour packages for Indians to fly down to witness the historic tournament.
While easing of the visa process with an aim to boost arrivals from a crucial source market like India, the visiting delegation, with South African Airways also met with the management of Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet to explore direct flights between the two nations.
