Introducing e-visas has the potential to grow tourism numbers and create jobs, tourism minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said at the weekend.
Van Schalkwyk was speaking at the ceremony at the Routes Africa conference, in the Seychelles. He said the continent has a long way to go to capitalise on its unique attractions and cultural diversity.
“Although Africa is home to some 15% of the global population, we account for only 3.4% of global tourism receipts and 5.2% of arrivals,” said Van Schalkwyk. He pointed out that the continent's population is just more than a billion and is “on the verge of an unprecedented tourism boom over the next two decades”.
However, to wake the “sleeping giant”, many barriers still need to be overcome, said Van Schalkwyk. One of the aspects he highlighted was visa barriers.
“As Africans, we have an opportunity here to leapfrog by doing two things right. In an era of globalisation, technology offers many opportunities to enhance security, while facilitating travel and tourism.
“By introducing e-visas, we will not only grow tourism volumes, but we will also create many new job opportunities,” said Van Schalkwyk. He added there are opportunities to accelerate the creation of regional visa schemes, which would allow international visitors and intra-African travellers to move more freely and efficiently, to the benefit of our continent.
Passenger numbers in Africa are expected to increase from 68 million in 2010 to 150 million in 2030, said Van Schalkwyk. “This would translate into a 5% per year growth rate for aviation's direct contribution to gross domestic product on the continent.”
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