South Africa woos Nigerian tourists

By Taiye Olayemi
The South African Tourism has urged Nigerians to visit the country for the forthcoming summer and Easter holidays.

Mr Thekiso Rakolojane, Regional Head, West Africa, South African Tourism, said this on Thursday in Kano, during the 46th Annual General Meeting of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA).

Rakolojane described South Africa as a nation with variety of experience ranging from safari, beaches, arts, culture, history, delectable cuisines, scenic beauty of nature and festivals with hospitable people.

He said South Africa was the right destination for tourists with low budget, as the nation had made provision for various kinds of tourists.

“We are encouraging Nigerians to come for their holidays in South Africa for the summer and Easter holidays to experience a restful vacation,” he said.

Rakolojane disclosed that South Africa had launched its e-visa application platform which would ensure seemless visa procurement process for tourists generally.

He said the mode of application would be published on the South African Tourism social media platforms.

“Our visa procurement has now been digitalised, streamlined, easier now, so we hope to see a lot of Nigerians come for summer and Easter holidays,” he said.

Rakolojane said that before the outbreak of COVID-19 , South Africa recieved over 40,000 Nigerian tourists, as 2020 recorded zero travels due to the lockdown occasioned by the pandemic.

He said that 2021 was remarkable because 11,600 Nigerian tourists visted South Africa for holidays.

According to him, the organisation surpassed its target of tourist arrivals for that year.

He noted that Nigerians visited South Africa against all odds, considering the challenges of PCR tests, limited flights, announcement of omicron variant of COVID-19 and grounded airlines.

“For the past two years, we have been faced with tremendous drop in tourist arrivals into South Africa but recently, we have experienced an increase in Nigerians coming into South Africa.

“We want this trend to continue, we see a lot of movie companies coming to shoot their movies in South Africa, this is encouraging for us. So, we say South Africa is open to all willing to explore the country’s tourism potential.

“The South Africa Airways flies three times in a week, Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays; also Air Peace goes to South Africa twice in a week as well as some other airlines.

“So, Nigerians are loaded with lots of option of which airline to patronise in their quest to visit South Africa,” he said. (NAN)