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South Africa’s list of high-risk countries, where tourists remain unable to enter the country, has been criticized as being arbitrary and potentially damaging to the local tourism sector.
The list of 60 countries includes countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, which are sources of some of the largest tourism spending in the country, while all of Africa is free to cross borders.
According to the Bureau of Economic Research (BER), rough estimates by Stats SA show that around 16% of total overnight visitors come from countries currently classified as high risk.
And the UK represent around 8% of all overnight tourists. While this is relatively low, visitors from these countries tend to spend more than tourists per visitor from Africa, the group said.
By contrast, around 73% of overnight tourists in 2019 came from countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the group noted.
South Africa’s so-called ‘red list’ applies only to leisure and tourism travel, and business travelers with low / critical skills, diplomats, returnees, investors and people participating in professional sporting or cultural events from the countries of high risk can enter the country.
However, it has been argued that the list is generally arbitrary given the fact that South Africa itself is also largely on the list of high-risk countries for many countries, including those in the high-risk group, thus That would have deterred travel in any case.
South Africa Red List
Of the 60 high-risk countries listed by South Africa, only 18 allow South Africans to visit them for leisure.
For some counties travel is possible, but not directly, such as Malta or Montenegro, which would require a citizen of a ‘red list’ country (like South Africa) to spend 14 or 15 days in a ‘green list’ country before entering.
As with South Africa’s opening of borders, countries that do allow travel for leisure and tourism purposes do not do so unconditionally, and will require travelers to submit recent negative Covid-19 tests or be subject to a period. mandatory quarantine.
Bookings.com has updates on country policies regarding international travel, and very few allow entry to South Africans. Most travel restrictions relate to tourism and leisure travel only, with exceptions for repatriation, returning citizens, students and medical emergencies.
In Iran, travel is allowed, but tourist visas will not be issued. This is a similar situation in the US (and related territories like Puerto Rico) where there is no explicit travel ban on South Africans, but the country and local offices are not issuing visas for pleasure travel.
Almost all territories advise travelers to limit their movements to essential travel.
Note: Since travel restrictions change continuously, the following is the one reported as of October 4, 2020, with the latest information available for each respective country. Many countries have indicated revisions to the lists in the coming weeks.
There are many regions, which South Africa has classified as low or medium risk, that still restrict travel. since South Africa.
This includes countries like Canada, Japan, and most of Europe, which use a centralized database to rank high-risk countries. The definition of high risk may differ from one territory to another, but countries such as Russia classify it as a cumulative rate of Covid-19 infection in 14 days greater than 25 people per 100,000 inhabitants.
According to the EU database, South Africa remains high risk, with a 14-day cumulative infection rate of more than 34 per 100,000 population. While this is still relatively high, it is significantly below the 290 per 100,000 population recorded during the peak of infection in July.
But this still means that South Africans wishing to travel abroad for leisure and tourism purposes will be banned from countries such as France, Italy, Switzerland, and most EU members that use the same database.
Some EU countries have gradually opened their borders for non-essential travel since July; however this has only been for visitors from the EU / EEA and UK, with few exceptions. Most notices recommend contacting local embassies, where applicable, to confirm the status of current travel restrictions.
Confusion and complexity
According to the BER, while South Africa’s careful approach to reopening its borders is understandable, the complexities of the exceptions are not helping the ailing tourism sector recover.
“In fact, Emirates airline canceled all planned flights to SA on Saturday with reports claiming this is due to uncertainty about whether the airline’s crew would have to comply with the same regulations as tourists and therefore provide a recent negative Covid-19 test.
“Reports on Monday suggest that the matter has been resolved and that the airline will resume flights to South Africa,” he said.
Meanwhile, industry voices have warned that, while welcome, the new policies have opened the door for much more complexity in overseas travel.
“Complexity, complexity and more complexity,” said Andrew Stark, managing director of Flight Center Travel Group for the Middle East and Africa. “Ever-changing travel regulations and the requirements of different destinations around the world create a travel landscape that will be difficult to navigate.
“For now, it is clear that business travelers have more freedom than they had in the last six months, while leisure travelers are somewhat more restricted.”
Stark cautioned that while reopening the borders is a vital and positive step in the right direction and will allow South Africans to reconnect with their loved ones, the return to travel will not be immediate and tourists should not exercise all caution wind.
“There is still a gray area around South Africans’ outbound travel to high-risk countries that would allow them entry.”
“We encourage South Africans to book their non-essential leisure trips now for next year. For this year, consider keeping it close to home with regional tours of the African continent and the islands of the Indian Ocean, ”he said.
Read: What to Expect from South Africa Travel in the Coming Months – Experts
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