Speaking on an eNCA interview on Wednesday, September 1, Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, ceo of the TBCSA, said vaccination was what gave the tourism industry hope. He added that, in addition to being a passport to freedom, it was a critical issue for tourism in South Africa.
“From sporting events to conferences to gatherings – all the things we have been talking about for the past 20 months – vaccination will get us back on track. And we in the tourism industry need to get back on track; we need to vaccinate our frontline workers and we need to be able to go back to work,” he said.
Having a vaccination is one thing – being able to prove it on entry into a country, with details of the date of vaccination and the vaccine brand is another. South Africa needs to join the other countries of the world in being able to supply its vaccinated citizens with an approved means of carrying this digital proof so that they can travel internationally, and it also needs to approve the same thing for incoming tourists so that they can move fast and seamlessly into the country. A global standard is needed, and South Africa needs to be part of the global push.
Tshifhiwa said the TBCSA had held discussions on vaccination passports and travel passes over the past week, through Nedlac, and they were due to present to government yesterday on the issue of vaccine passports, with a view to trying to set a standard.
Iata, WTTO and Icao had produced guidelines for these digital vaccination certificate verifications, said Tshifhiwa. “We need to make sure that the civil liberties of citizens of the country are not eroded but we need to take reality into the context. We must be able to prove that someone is vaccinated, so digital vaccination proof is going to be critical and it's something that we're waiting for and it’s something that we hope that government is going to adopt as soon as possible. Those that are fully vaccinated should be able to come to South Africa without any other proof but the proof of full vaccination. We don't want inbound travellers to be coming here and having to have a PCR test if they are fully vaccinated.
“South Africa needs to regionally integrate itself, to make sure that we don't have a different policy within the SADC region, because (a tourist) who comes to South Africa also wants to go to Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana. We need to integrate through the Southern African region,” he said.
When South Africans are vaccinated, they receive a card, but the information is also drawn into the online system (EVDS) that resides with the Department of Health, said Tshifhiwa. “The question is how we integrate that information that's sitting with the Department of Health into a trusted third-party app that the traveller should be able to access using their ID or passport number. The traveller can then go to an airport anywhere, with their phone, and show the information on the app as proof of vaccination.
“We don't need to reinvent the wheel, or to go out there and make a new system. There are many systems that already exist, and we need to integrate those systems that are recognised by many countries, to make sure that South Africans who want to travel abroad can verify their vaccination status.”
