Tourism minister Patricia de Lille expects the appointment of a new South African Tourism board to be completed by October after recruitment and due processes have been completed.

In a statement on Monday marking 100 days since being appointed in the portfolio, De Lille said an advert had been placed and the call for nominations is open until July 6.  Interested parties are encouraged to apply.

“In the meantime, with the department and the interim board, we are working to bring greater stability and efficiency to South African Tourism with our goal remaining to grow inclusive tourism in South Africa.”

Priorities in the performance agreement she signed with President Cyril Ramaphosa on April 1 include growing the sector and dealing with the tour operator licences backlog.

De Lille said she met transport minister Sindisiwe Chikunga as the licences were issued by her department.

“Our task is to reduce red tape and improve the turnaround time for processing tour operator licence applications and renewals.

“By April 12, the operator licence backlog was 418 — down from more than 1,000 applications last year.”

Another priority was to improve access to South Africa for visitors by collaborating with the home affairs department to improve ease of travel through implementation of the e-visa system and digitising of passenger processing at ports of entry.

“In early March I met minister of home affairs Aaron Motsoaledi regarding the challenges with processing visas and [he] undertook to increase the visa adjudication capacity and to enhance the e-visa system.

“Capacity was increased with an additional 18 people deployed to the e-visa hub. Motsoaledi indicated this increased capacity would allow the hub to process up to 300 e-visas a day.”

South Africa initially rolled out the e-visa system to 14 countries and visitors from an additional 20 countries can now apply for e-visas.

De Lille said tourism safety was a key area of her work.

“I am clear that government and the private sector need to work together on solutions and actions that will make South Africa safer for tourists and locals.”

The department was also finalising discussions on partnerships with the private sector on the use of technologies and apps to enhance safety for local and international tourists.

“We will launch the Secura Tourist Safety App, an initiative by the private sector in July.”

She added increasing the number of visitors to South Africa was also important and involved developing and implementing a brand strategy to promote South Africa as a preferred destination.

“Our target is to increase visitor numbers and spend above pre-Covid levels by March 31, 2024.”

Source: TimesLIVE