COUNTRIES in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) are preparing to roll out a common visa similar to Schengen in a bid to boost international arrivals.
Speaking on the sidelines of the WTTC Global Summit, Zimbabwe’s minister of tourism and hospitality industry, Walter Mzembi, revealed that this would be on the agenda at the UNWTO 56th Commission Meeting for Africa in Angola this week.
He said: “We continue to have a four per cent market share of global tourism arrivals because we’re a closed continent…(we hope) Africa will wake up to the reality of a double-digit market share by 2020.”
SADC comprises Angola, Botswana, Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, but it is understood that only five or six countries may be signatories to the visa agreement.
Confirming that South Africa would “definitely be a part of it”, South African Tourism CEO, Thulani Nzima, said: “The common visa for SADC would be used as a test case and eventually be rolled out to the rest of the region.”
He added that this would encourage the development of more multi-country itineraries combining attractions such as Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and Robben Island in South Africa.
Individually, South Africa is already taking steps to woo more tourists. With 12 marketing offices abroad, four more are opening this year in Nigeria, Brazil, Angola and Tanzania. There are also plans to set up two satellite offices in Shanghai and South Korea.
In 2012, the country also launched a National Convention Bureau to attract more business events.
