South African government urged to reverse drop in foreign tourist arrivals

South Africa’s opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) has urged the government to reverse a decline in international tourist arrivals.

This came after latest figures showed that fewer international tourists were visiting South Africa mainly due to security concerns and strict visa regulations.

“Little, if anything, has been done to deal with the perception that South Africans are xenophobic and that our country is not a safe place to visit,” said Manny de Freitas, shadow minister of tourism.

The DA will also table this issue in the National Assembly, he said.

Tourism has been recognised as a key drive for employment and economic growth in South Africa.

According to figures released by Statistics South Africa earlier this week, the number of tourist arrivals from most of the 10 largest sources of travellers declined since the beginning of this year.

The data also showed that the number of Chinese tourists decreased by over 10 percent, equal to the same decrease recorded in 2018.

Source: GNA