The tourism industry has remained rather mum about the surprise introduction of a travel pass for both inbound and outbound travellers at the OR Tambo International Airport.
This comes after the South African Revenue Service (Sars) last week announced the introduction of an online traveller declaration system at Africa’s busiest airport.
Sars said that from November 1, the travellers will have to obtain the travel pass before they depart or enter the country after an international trip.
The system will then be rolled out to all international airports during the first quarter of 2023.
The public has lambasted the system as more red tape the tourism industry does not need after being crippled by Covid-19 lockdown restrictions and recent safety concerns.
However, Tourism Business Council of SA (TBCSA) chief executive Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa yesterday said it was still early days to pass judgment on the travel pass.
“TBCSA is still in discussions with Sars to get a full understanding of the introduction of the system,” Tshivhengwa said.
“We will only be able to comment once those discussions have been concluded.”
Industry insiders who spoke to Business Report anonymously said that the travel pass was going to cause further delays at the airport that could discourage international travellers.
They also said that Sars should have piloted this system during a quieter season, not the busy months towards the festive season.
Last week, Sars Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said the traveller declaration system was more than just a simple travel document and declaration.
Kieswetter said the system was put in place to monitor the flow of money across South Africa’s borders that was not properly disclosed for exchange control purposes and tax.
“The travel pass is a single component in a response by the whole of government to improve the integrity of our financial flows, and to improve our capacity to detect illicit flows and to enforce our laws and regulations,” Kieswetter said.
“The declaration by a traveller is the commitment we seek as the Revenue Service about whether or not they have on their person any amounts which are in excess of the amounts that are permitted.”
Sars will be making further announcements in due course on how it would use data and technology from structured and unstructured sources, to be more aware of the economic activities of taxpayers and tax paying entities.
The travel and tourism industry is progressively showing signs of recovery, with the total passenger departures movements increased by over 55% after the devastating two years of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Although there has been a steady increase in seat capacity relative to the Covid-19 period, the overall air capacity is still below 2019 levels.
At the 52nd Airlines Association of Southern Africa (AASA) annual general assembly in Hermanus on Friday, Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said they were at an advanced stage of developing a new draft overall policy for tourism in South Africa, which will replace the 1996 White Paper on Tourism and respond to current policy questions and constraints.
“The updated policy will include a comprehensive set of supportive policy interventions for long term inclusive tourism growth,” Sisulu said.
“Inevitably, proposals in the policy include areas of interest to aviation stakeholders.”
BUSINESS REPORT