South Africa in talks with India for direct air connectivity to boost tourism

South Africa is in talks with the Indian government as well as three airlines to introduce direct flights to India to boost tourism, South Africa Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille said on Tuesday.

Currently, India and South Africa are connected by layover flights by Emirates, Kenya Airways, Air Mauritius, Ethiopian Airlines, Etihad Airways, Air Seychelles, RwandAir and Qatar Airways.

"We are here to promote South Africa as a tourist destination for Indian travellers and resolve any issues and boost tourism. There is an issue with direct flights between South Africa and India. I will be engaging with three Indian airlines Air India, IndiGo and Spice (SpiceJet) to persuade them on the benefits of direct flights between both the countries," Lille told PTI over a telephone conversation.

The minister is on a week-long visit to New Delhi and Mumbai till December 6, to strengthen bilateral ties.

South Africa Tourism will illustrate the benefits that these airlines can derive not only from tourists' points of view but also from a trade and business perspective with these direct flights, she said.

Talking about visas, she said, the South African government has resolved the issue of a lengthy process with electronic visa facilities for Indian travellers.

"With e-visa, it's much easier for an Indian traveller now to come to South Africa," she added.

Lille further said India is among the top source markets for South Africa and they hope to reach close to the pre-Covid level by the end of this year.

"In 2019, we welcomed 95,000 Indian travellers and in 2023, that is down to 79,000. This year, from January to September, 59,000 Indians have already visited South Africa and we hope to be close to the pre-Covid level this year," she added.

Asked about the focus segment for South Africa, she said, "We're going to go the full spectrum. We're also focusing on young people. And we want to design packages for young people. We're also focusing on MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and events). It's all the sectors that we are focusing on, including leisure, adventure tourism and sports tourism."