The bleeding tourism sector has been dealt another blow with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) putting South Africa back on a Level 4 risk level, which advises against travel to the country.
South Africa was among 61 countries moved from Level 4 to Level 3 on June 9.
But travel to the US for South African residents remains the same – it is still banned but for a complex list of visa-types and special circumstances which may be viewed here.
South Africa is categorised as high-risk for US travellers (due to the presence of variants of concern), along with China, Iran, the European Schengen bloc, the UK (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), Republic of Ireland, Brazil and India.
“The US is a key travel and trade market and this advisory reaffirms the urgency with which we need to speed up the vaccine roll-out. The sooner we reach herd immunity, the sooner we can open up the country and welcome back travellers who are so important for our economy,” said Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management for the City of Cape Town, James Vos.
“As such, it is heartening to hear that African countries will be receiving another 15 million doses in the coming days.”
Ceo of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA), Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, said the CDC’s decision was disappointing, but added that it was understandable, given that the world, along with South Africa, was dealing with a third wave.
“Our vaccination levels are still low in SA and this needs to be addressed,” he added.
Responding to concerns that United Airlines (which started daily flights between New York and Johannesburg last month) and Delta Air Lines (which starts flights from Atlanta in August) would revise or cancel their schedules following the revised risk level, Tshifihwa said he did not foresee this happening.
“The demand is there and United introduced its flights before the Level 3 adjustment. Vaccinated travellers from the US will still come to South Africa,” he said.
Tshifihwa added that a major point in the US market’s favour was that there was no quarantine imposed on return to the States. He expressed hope that the UK and other key source markets such as Germany, would soon follow suit and abandon their quarantine requirements.
