The Department of Home Affairs has launched the second phase of its Trusted Tour Operator Scheme (TTOS), bringing the total number of operators to 110.
The TTOS is part of the department’s drive to modernise systems and improve visa processing times. The department will also launch an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) system in September along with specific visa categories for the meetings and entertainment industries.
When the Department of Home Affairs announced the second phase of the TTOS last week, 45 vetted tour operators were added to the existing 65 enrolled when the programme launched in February.
In a statement, Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said the programme resulted in 25 024 additional tourists from India and China “who would otherwise have been deterred by visa delays”.
He added: “The TTOS demonstrates the power of our digital transformation agenda to enable economic growth and create jobs. The fact that we have attracted over 25 000 tourists, in just six months working with a small handful of tour operators, confirms the enormous potential of growing this digital-first approach.”
Statistics South Africa’s arrivals data for June showed a decline in the number of Indian visitors, despite the introduction of the TTOS, but one India-focused operator says this could be attributed to a number of factors.
“The visa issues that people experienced last year definitely made the Indian trade very cautious about selling South Africa and didn’t want to risk a repeat of that so they weren’t going to suddenly start selling South Africa blindly due to a system that wasn’t proven and had no track record,” he said.
Forward-looking data looks positive, he added. “Our numbers for July are up about 16% for 2025 compared to 2024 and the projected numbers for August will be more than double compared to 2024. The trend is thus going in the right direction.”
Mitalee Karmarkar, SA Tourism’s Marketing and Communications Manager for the Middle East, India and Southeast Asia, said another major blockage in the Indian market is the absence of direct flights.
“While this has impacted convenience and connectivity, we continue to spotlight ongoing discussions around enhancing direct air access with key stakeholders and hope to have a positive outcome soon,” she said.
New visa categories and ETA
Schreiber said, together with the ETA and dedicated visas for events and the film industry, these changes are “set to take South Africa to a whole new level as a global destination”.
The ETA is an AI-driven system that will initially focus on automating tourist and short-stay visas, providing a faster and safer visa system.
However, specific details about the rollout of the ETA have not yet been released. Asked for further details on the rollout slated for September, Schreiber’s spokesperson, Duwayne Esau, said: “Comprehensive technical and policy work on the ETA is still underway. The department will communicate once the work is concluded.”
Schreiber announced the MEETS and STAGES visa categories for the events and meetings as well as film, entertainment and sports industries in June although no timeline was provided.
Esau told Tourism Update the visas are “based on the same successful model of the TTOS” with an average turnaround time of 24 hours. He said the department’s goal is to expand the TTOS first, “followed by the launch of MEETS and STAGES”.
He said: “In the same manner that tour operators were allowed to register their interest to become part of TTOS, event organisers and film companies will be able to register their interest. Detailed criteria will be announced in the same way as was done with the TTOS.”
