South Africa starts wooing Kenyans to visit with visa deal

A statue of Nelson Mandela in front of the Union Buildings in Pretoria. FILE PHOTO | ALEXANDER JOE |  AFP

In Summary

• Country to open regional tourism office in Nairobi.

By VINCENT ACHUKA
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South Africa has launched a campaign to get more Kenyans to tour the country.

The campaign is known as “Allow us to Indulge You”.

It aims at making more Kenyans aware of the activities and places they can visit while in South Africa by making the country easier to visit and more appealing.

The difficulty of getting a visa has been a deterrent to many Kenyans, who would wish to visit Africa’s economic giant famous for its beaches, but South Africa tourism regional director for Africa Evelyn Mahlaba said the rules were being reviewed.

“The conversation pertaining to the visa legislation is ongoing and happening at a national and government level. We have shared our research insights about this with stakeholders, said Ms Mahlaba, who is in Kenya to attend a tourism workshop.

As part of the campaign, she said, her country would open a regional tourism office in Nairobi, whose sole purpose would be to promote South Africa as a tourist destination.

“There is a lot of economic growth in Kenya and a lot of people are making more money and can afford a trip out of the country now and we want their country of destination to be South Africa.

“Our infrastructure and service are first class and our packages are extremely affordable with the cheapest being Sh150,000 for a one-week trip, including air fare. A number of Kenyans can afford this,” she said.

The push by South Africa comes at a time when Kenya is busy wooing tourists back to the country.

The tourism industry has suffered immensely largely due to insecurity and terror threats. The Kenya Government has even hired a British PR firm, Grayling PR, as part of its recovery efforts.

Arrivals from East Africa, and Kenya, in particular, have seen a steady increase in recent years.

The most recent arrival numbers indicate that in 2014, some 35,605 tourists visited South Africa from Kenya.

This was a seven per cent growth over the previous year.

However, Ms Mahlaba said they were targeting a 10 per cent increase. She said they had also partnered with popular Kenyan music band Sauti Sol, in an attempt to tap into their influence.

The band will be visiting South Africa a number of times and documenting their experience as part of efforts to sell the country in Kenya.

Ms Mahlaba is, however, concerned about the decline of Kenya’s tourism sector, which, she says, complements her country’s industry.

“The true growth and potential of our tourism sector can only be realised if the same growth is happening in countries on the rest of the continent. For South Africa to grow and reach its potential, all of Africa must grow, because we are in Africa,” the official said.