Cape Town - The Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (Satsa) has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa and the recently established Red Tape Reduction Team in the Presidency, led by Sipho Nkosi, to urgently intervene to avoid another crisis in tourism.
Satsa chief executive David Frost said that although post-pandemic tourism was beginning to recover, the recovery was fragile and being paralysed by government red tape.
New and existing tour operators required licences to provide tourism transport services which, by law, should be issued within 60 days for new operators and within a day for accredited operators, but this was not happening.
“Instead, operators are waiting up to two years for accreditation and operating licences, that is if they receive them at all.”
Satsa will hold a press briefing on Wednesday to discuss the issue.
Meanwhile, Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) has scooped an international award as the African Continent’s Cleanest Airport for the seventh consecutive year.
Five South African airports made it to the Skytrax World Airport Awards, with CTIA at the top followed by Durban’s King Shaka Airport in second place, Johannesburg’s OR Tambo in fifth, Gqeberha’s Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport sixth with East London’s King Phalo Airport in ninth place.
The CTIA also won the awards for being the Best Airport in Africa and having the Best Staff in Africa.
The awards were presented on Thursday night at the 2022 World Airport Awards, in Paris, France.
The World Airport Awards are described as “the most prestigious accolades for the airport industry, voted for by customers in the largest, annual global airport customer satisfaction survey, assessing customer service and facilities across more than 550 airports.”
Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC Mireille Wenger said the awards were a clear vote of confidence in the airport. The recent announcement of a United Airlines year-round service, showed that there was clearly a surge in demand for flights to Cape Town.
“More connections mean more tourism, more trade, and more investment opportunities, which is good for economic growth and job creation.”
Provincial ANC Finance and Economic Opportunities spokesperson Nomi Nkondlo said the award was positive recognition of the efforts made by Acsa as a state entity to manage the operations of the CTIA.
Mayco Member for Economic Growth James Vos said the City was proud to be able to work closely with the airport team to produce a world-class facility.
In May, the provincial trade and tourism promotion agency, Wesgro, said domestic terminal passenger arrivals through Cape Town International Airport grew by 72% in the first quarter of 2022 compared with the same period in 2021.
Passenger arrivals in January 2022 nearly doubled from last year and showed the strongest recovery at 73% on its 2019 figure.
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za