The scrapping of the unabridged birth certificate requirement for inbound travellers will boost the tourism sector, tourism minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said at the weekend.

The directive, signed by home affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi on Friday, means that international minors travelling to SA no longer require unabridged birth certificates or consent letters when travelling with their parents. All ports of entries as well as the airline and maritime industries have been informed following the signing of the waiver, the tourism department said.

The government recently agreed to ease some of the more onerous visa requirements in a bid to boost the tourism sector and the broader economy.

When the unabridged birth certificate requirement was introduced in 2015, tourism associations which represent inbound tourism services companies, said they had received information from the UK press and some travellers who were turned away at various airports because they did not meet the visa requirements, particularly the birth certificate requirement. Reports at the time were that between 10 and 20 families were daily denied travel to SA from London’s Heathrow Airport, on the basis that they did not meet the visa requirements.