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In a possible blow to South Africa’s tourism industry, which is one of the sectors hardest hit by the national shutdown, the government has decided to exclude some of the country’s largest sources of travelers from opening up borders.
While business travelers from countries that have traditionally provided South Africa with top spending tourists, including the US, UK and major EU economies such as France, will be excluded afterwards. that a recent increase in infections means they are considered high risk.
The minister for international relations and cooperation, Naledi Pandor, said the list will be reviewed every two weeks. Investors, diplomats and participants in professional sporting events will be allowed.
Billionaire industry players had argued that new travel restrictions or bans would derail any recovery in an industry that accounted for about 9% of GDP in 2020 and created more than 1 million jobs. The government’s decision comes as rising infections in Europe has prompted governments to rush to issue new restrictions without repeating the large-scale lockdowns that led to historic drops in second-quarter GDP.
On Wednesday, the government provided a list of countries with high infection rates that residents will not be allowed to travel to South Africa for tourism, including other members of the Brics, India, which has the second highest number of infections after EE. USA and Brazil. which is close to 5 million active cases. Travelers from Russia, France, Portugal and the Netherlands have also been excluded.
About a third of the more than 10 million visitors who spent nearly R120bn in the country in 2019 came from Europe, with the UK being the largest market.
The United States is also one of the main sources of tourists for South Africa, with more than 373,000 arrivals in 2019.
The six-month lockdown has had a devastating effect on SA’s already weak economy, which lost more than 2 million jobs in the second quarter, according to a report from Stats SA on Tuesday. Tourism and aviation were some of the biggest casualties, and Comair joined SAA in the business rescue.
SA moved to level 1 of the blockade in September, and President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the country’s borders will be opened on October 1.
SA Executive Director of Tourism Sisa Ntshona welcomed the announcement for providing clarity and transparency in the country rankings. “Now we have certainty … we know that it is a transparent formula and provides predictability,” he said. “No country in the world has [got] this right, everyone is trying to find the right measure. “
Pandor said the SA risk categorization model for different international travelers ranks countries on a scale of high, medium and low risk.
High-risk countries are those with a higher number of Covid-19 infections and reported deaths than SA. Medium-risk countries have a relatively equal number of infections and number of deaths as SA, and low-risk countries would be those with fewer infections.
Despite the restrictions, South Africans from high-risk countries will be allowed to return to their homes, as has been allowed through repatriation flights. South Africans with family members living in high-risk countries will be allowed to travel to visit them, but upon re-entry to SA they will be subject to the same requirements as foreigners.
Put on screen
Pandor said that travelers who intend to visit the country from anywhere in the world are expected to produce a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test that takes no more than 72 hours from the time of departure from the country of origin. towards South Africa.
The test must be performed by a certified physician and must have the name and signature of the physician who performed it on the certificate to be presented at the port of entry.
All travelers will be screened even if they have a negative Covid-19 test result. They will also need to provide proof of the accommodation address if they need to self-quarantine upon arrival in the country.
Pandor said that if a traveler exhibits any Covid-related symptoms or has been in contact with an infected person, they are expected to undergo a mandatory test. This test will be the responsibility of the traveler.
If the test is positive, the traveler will be quarantined for 10 days at a designated site on their own.
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