South Africa visas for promoting tourism-Zuma

South Africa, 15th February: South African President Jacob Zuma has pledged to make the process of South Africa visas more flexible for giving a big boost to the tourism sector in the nation.

Zuma expressed his happiness over the tourism sector of the country while adding that the government is also ready to introduce several improvisations in the tourism infrastructure of the nation.

The government of South Africa acknowledges the fact that various barriers on South Africa visas must be removed in order to promote tourism in the nation and the nation’s economy.

Highlighting the positive role of tourism in South Africa, Zuma said that nearly one job is created in the country through the arrival of sixteen tourists in South Africa.

The year 2010 saw arrival of nearly 7.3 million tourists in South Africa which is significantly more than 6.3 million tourists in the year 2009, informed Zuma.

South Africa- a popular venue for international events--

Zuma stated that South Africa is a popular tourist destination for different international gatherings. Hence, apart from making the process of South Africa visas more flexible, efforts will be undertaken for improving landing places at various foreign airports as part of the better tourism infrastructure steps.

Between the year 2010 and 2016, South Africa has been chosen as the venue for nearly 95 conferences and meetings. South Africa will be hosting a sports event – the 123rd International Olympic Committee General Assembly Session in the month of July this year.

Zuma said that South Africa has been a successful host of the 2010 Soccer World Cup event.

And the government will continue for development of the cultural industries sector of the nation which is related to tourism and is a source of high revenue to the GDP of the nation.

Zuma said that famous events including the Cape Town International Jazz Festival brought in R475 million revenue for the Cape Town economy and was instrumental in creation of 2,000 opportunities of jobs in the year 2010.

India emerging as a major source of tourism for South Africa—

The fact that the number of Indian visitors to South Africa went up increased to 67 percent in November 2010 from 57 percent in November 2009 shows that India is a major source of tourism for South Africa. The South Africa government is positive about the tourism potential from India and will do its best to address the issue of visa soon, stated regional director of Americas, Asia and Australasia, South Africa Tourism, Evelyn Mahlaba.