PCR tests for fully vaccinated travellers to enter South Africa need to be scrapped as a matter of urgency, as they remain a major barrier to tourism recovery.
They also remain a thorn in the side of South Africans returning from trips abroad, not to mention an enormous added expense. A traveller recently returning to South Africa from Scotland had to pay £149 (R3 120) for a single PCR test.
According to Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, CEO of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA), the organisation had focused on getting these costly tests scrapped since last year.
“We have addressed this at Nedlac and National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure level and we know the Department of Health is considering proposals regarding this.” He said many countries globally were scrapping the tests, with Portugal being the latest to implement this.
“If the scientists advising policies around this have specific concerns and reasons as to why these tests should not be scrapped, they need to explain this so we can better understand what is driving these concerns,” said Tshivhengwa.
The TBCSA, he said, was also in the process of revising some of the COVID-19 health and safety protocols to ensure the industry could move forward and not be hamstrung by cumbersome regulations.
“Of course we are doing this responsibly and are mindful of maintaining traveller trust in our destination.”
In a recent poll in Travel News’s sister publication, Tourism Update, over 86% of respondents indicated that PCR tests were a barrier to tourism growth, with operators highlighting that the cost of the tests was one of the biggest obstacles.
Amanda Castleman, Owner/Manager of UmSisi House in Mpumalanga, said this was particularly a barrier when guests were travelling to multiple countries within Southern Africa.
“Guests have to pay exorbitant fees for a test to enter each country,” she said.
Owner and Director of Alpha Destinations, Angela Matthews, agreed. A recent multi-country itinerary she’d put together for clients resulted in a bill of US$1 100 (R17 000) per person for PCR tests alone.
