Outbound travellers from South Africa are increasingly making Türkiye their destination of choice due to several factors working in the country’s favour.
The process of acquiring a visitor visa is considerably simpler compared with the struggles resulting from ongoing backlogs of visa applications to other countries and, in addition, Turkish Airlines has also been promoting the region through a variety of value-adds.
All South African passport holders qualify for an electronic visa in an online process where the applicant receives their e-visa within a few minutes – and there is no charge for the visa application.
“We have definitely noticed an increase in demand for Türkiye,” Trevor Brown, TK Corporate Sales Manager in Cape Town, tells Travel News. He adds that the airline’s reports show that passenger numbers to Turkey have increased by 32% over the 2019 numbers.
The South African rand has also been strengthening against the Turkish Lira, which helps encourage travel to the country from South Africa, Brown maintains.
A further report from Turkish Airlines also shows that the country is one of the most-visited destinations by South Africans via the airline, whereas, prior to COVID-19, the destination was tenth on that list. Türkiye is now the third-most-visited country from South Africa.
Turkish brings value
Since Turkish Airlines brought back its popular Free Hotel Stopover offering in late March as a value-add to trips to the country, it has also reintroduced its Tour Istanbul experience.
The airline’s passengers can enjoy their free time during long layovers by participating in these free city tours that operate six times a day, any day of the year.
The tours are available to passengers during layovers of between six and 24 hours, and to all international transfer passengers using Istanbul Airport. Both flights should be with a Turkish Airlines ticket (codeshared or operated).
After arrival at Istanbul Airport, passengers must proceed to the Turkish Airlines Hotel Desk (after Passport Control & Customs) to sign up directly.
