South Africa visa delays hit tour operators

Over 60% tours cancelled; tour operators lose revenue

Visa delays have led to cancellation of about 60 per cent of tours to South Africa in the last two months. The delay, sometimes stretching to over 30 days, has affected both leisure and business tours.

Travel industry sources said a shortage of visa officers in the South African high commission in New Delhi was causing the delay.

India is the seventh biggest source of tourists to South Africa, and over 100,000 Indians visited the country in 2012 and 2013. South African Tourism holds regular trade shows and marketing campaigns in India.

“Tour operators are facing losses because of last-minute cancellations. Customers are unhappy because these changes are costly. Investments by tour operators in blocking hotels and air tickets are going down the drain. Above all, it is a loss to South Africa,” said Guldeep Singh Sahni, president of the Outbound Tour Operators of India.

With South African tours in a limbo, Australia and New Zealand are drawing business. “Travel companies are also trying to shift their conference groups to Indonesia, Turkey and other countries. South African visa  delays have been on since last October but now the situation is worse. Travel companies remit tour charges collected from customers to local agents in advance to arrange bookings. The agents are keeping back the remittance as credit because of the cancellations,” said a source in the travel industry who did not wish to be named.

An eight-day South Africa trip costs Rs 1.2 lakh a person in a group tour. Tour operators are refunding in full if visas get delayed.

“The visa backlog is 20-30 days. We are advising customers not to opt for South African trips till visa delivery is back to normal,” said Pradip Lulla, secretary of the Travel Agents’ Federation of India.

“The South African High Commission is experiencing technical problems that are affecting the issuing of travel documents. We are confident that the normal flow of travel documents will resume shortly. We are aware of the impact of this situation on visa applicants travelling to South Africa and regret the inconvenience caused by this situation,” the South African High Commission in New Delhi said.