Travel and Tourism Industry concerns om Immigration Regulations: Tourism Business Council of SA briefing

Meeting report

Election of Acting Chairperson

In the absence of the Chairperson Ms B Ngcobo (ANC) the Committee elected Ms E Masehela (ANC) as Acting Chairperson.  

Briefing by the Tourism Business Council of SA (TBCSA) on travel and tourism industry concerns over the amended Immigration Regulations

The delegation comprised of Ms Mmatsatsi Ramawela Chief Executive Officer: TBCSA, Mr Ravi Ndasen Deputy Chairperson: TBCSA and TBCSA members Mr Chris Zweigenthal Chief Executive: Airlines Association of Southern Africa, Mr Tshifhiva Tshivhenga Chief Executive Officer: Federated Hospitality Association of SA (FEDHASA) and Mr Jerry Mabena Chief Executive Officer: Thebe Tourism Group. Ms Ramawela undertook the briefing.

Ms Mmatsatsi Ramawela Chief Executive Officer, TBCSA, said the point of the meeting was to highlight challenges that the TBCSA and the industry was facing due to the immigration regulations, the consequences of the regulations for the industry, the benefits that the industry had for the South African economy and lastly recommendations towards resolving the identified challenges.

The Committee was firstly provided with some background on the TBCSA itself and its membership base as well as statistics on tourism’s contribution. Tourism globally was the third largest industry in the world after banking and automotive production. It contributed 9.8% to global Gross Domestic Product (GDP). From a regional perspective in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region in 2015 travel and tourism contributed 3.1% to GDP. This was expected to rise to 3.3% in 2016. In South Africa travel and tourism’s contribution to GDP in 2015 was 9.4% translating to R375bn. The briefing also spoke about the private sectors role in creating sustainable jobs and contributing to economic growth and transformation.

The Committee was provided with background on the process and substance of the immigration regulations. One of the major requirements set out in the immigration regulations was that where one or both parents travelled with a child they had to produce an unabridged birth certificate. Another requirement was where only one parent travelled with a child a court order, affidavit or death certificate was required where applicable. The rationale for the requirements was that it was done in the interest of security, in particular to prevent child trafficking. Biometric data requirements were also introduced after a decision by the inter-ministerial committee. A study commissioned by the TBCSA in 2015 and conducted by Grant Thornton showed that international arrivals had fallen by 6.8% from 2014 to 2015 the biggest decline over six years. China being SA’s leading tourist market fell by 465 in 2014. The Indian tourist market had decreased by 23.5% in 2014 due to a lack of processing centres. Every foreign travel market to SA experienced a decline during 2015 especially the USA, Germany and Australia. SA’s tourism industry lost direct spend of R866m due to the changed regulations. Negative impact on the South African economy translated to a loss of R2.6bn.  Interventions recommended by the inter-ministerial committee included the capturing of biometrics at ports of entry starting at OR Tambo International Airport, King Shaka International Airport and Cape Town International Airport.  There was also an accredited tourism company programme for China, India and Russia. Some positives were that the number of Chinese tourists to SA had increased by 50% by May 2016 when compared to May 2015. By May 2016 tourist numbers from India had also improved by 37%. However the reality was that there were persisting challenges. The inter-ministerial committee had taken a decision that on visa exempt countries ie the USA, UK and Germany visitors travelling with a minor was strongly advised to bring acceptable documents to prove relations with the minor or a consent form from absent parents/ guardians. The problem that arose was that airlines stopped these passengers and prevented them from boarding flights if airlines so felt that documentation was not in order. This impacted hugely on tourists/passengers where pre-paid holidays had to be cancelled as a result. South African Airways (SAA) recorded that 3 974 passengers were denied boarding due to unabridged birth certificate requirements from June 2015 to the end of July 2016. Extrapolating this to all airlines it equated to 13 246 passengers being denied boarding since SAA accounted for 30% of all inbound traffic into SA. Not only were there negative public relations about SA but there were also lost investment opportunities as businessmen often travelled with their families on business trips. When SA’s arrivals declined in 2015, Australia grew its overseas tourism to 7.2m which was an increase of 8.2%. According to SA Tourism the average spend per passenger was R13 000 which amounted to R7.51bn revenue lost to SA. France used to be the number one tourist destination but due to the terrorist attacks many tourists opted to come to SA.

The TBCSA did a study with its members for the 2nd Quarter of 2016 and it revealed that 43% of respondents were still affected by the immigration regulations. Some of the persisting challenges that respondents in the accommodation and hospitality sectors faced was that in the last quarter there had been around 4000 cancellations from confirmed bookings due to the impact of the immigration regulations. This trend was expected to continue in the next quarter. Biometric data capturing had resulted in huge congestion at OR Tambo International Airport. There were insufficient DHA personnel to deal with passengers. The problem was that National Treasury had placed a moratorium on all government departments on the filling of posts. Other challenges were that the regulations also required accommodation establishments to make copies of identity documents of each and every guest that booked in. This was complicated by the fact that the storage of identity documents had to comply with requirements set out in the Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act. The TBCSA spoke about its journey in trying to resolve the challenges. This included meeting with the DHA and even attempting to engage with Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa over issues. The Director General of Home Affairs, Mr Mkuseli Apleni, had also not been happy with the manner in which the TBCSA had gone about raising its concerns especially trying to engage Deputy President Ramaphosa.

The TBCSA proceeded to speak to some of its recommendations. It was noted that SA was the only country which required unabridged birth certificates, court orders and affidavits etc. Countries like the US, UK and Canada did not have requirements where both parents accompanied the child. Where this was not the case they strongly recommend that supporting documentation accompany the child including a consent form but not an unabridged birth certificate. Some countries only required birth certificates during processes of applying for visas which SA could also consider. For persons visiting for less than two weeks e-visas should be considered. On child trafficking it was best to feed off international best practise. SA should look at countries like the Netherlands, Mexico and Thailand where child trafficking was huge. Examples of practises by other countries were provided to members as well. The questioned remained. Was trafficking really happening through airports or was it more through land border posts? Other recommendations by the TBCSA was that the DHA should reconsider the removal of the word “foreigner” from the Immigration Act so that only identification documents of foreign guests could be collected. The DHA in addition should put systems in place to address congestions at airports especially at OR Tambo International Airport and Cape Town International Airport. The TBCSA had even offered to financially assist the DHA with the provision of extra staff at airports in order to alleviate congestion but the DHA had thus far not taken up the offer of the TBCSA.                            

Briefing by the Airlines Association of Southern Africa (AASA) on travel and tourism industry concerns over the amended Immigration Regulations

Mr Chris Zweigenthal, Chief Executive, AASA, gave a brief background of the Association and its members. The National Department of Transport was the Association’s lead department. There was however a need to get alignment between the transport sector ie airlines and the tourism sector. Visa regimes throughout Africa needed to be simplified as there was opportunity for market growth in both the airlines and tourism sectors. The Association did not wish to repeat most of what had been presented by the TBCSA as the concerns raised over the impact of the immigration regulations were shared. Suffice to say the unabridged birth certificate requirement had a huge impact of both passengers and airlines. Passengers holidays which in many cases were non refundable were ruined and airlines had to deal with their anger and frustration. Interventions by the inter-ministerial committee had not lead to much change and the status quo pretty much remained. The Association as did the TBCSA wished to discuss possible alternatives and solutions to the issues with the DHA. The Committee was provided with statistical information taken from1-18 October 2016 on congestion problems at OR Tambo International Airport. Immigration queuing times took between 90 minutes and 4 hours. There were 40 missed connections daily and for the period it totalled 800. These figures clearly spelt out the need for additional DHA staff. There were also implications for airlines due to the congestion. There was additional ground handling, excessive overtime for airline staff, disruption of flight schedules, cost of putting up passengers in hotels who had missed connections, additional baggage handling etc. The solution was to have vacant DHA staff vacancies at airports filled.

Mr Ravi Ndasen, Deputy Chairperson, TBCSA, said that quite a bit of information had been presented to the Committee. The situation was urgent as the peak tourism season was upon SA in the next few weeks. There was a great deal of jobs and livelihoods at stake. The TBCSA was all about finding a solution and did share concerns over child trafficking.

Mr Tshifhiva Tshivhenga, Chief Executive Officer, Federated Hospitality Association of SA (FEDHASA), stated that the aim of the presentations was to make a case for tourism. It was all about creating opportunities and jobs for South Africans. The way things stood was that accommodation establishments had to store a copy of every South African’s identity document in a safe and secure manner. This was besides copies of passports of foreign guests. It was a huge amount of red tape. This could be a hindrance to small bed and breakfasts in townships like Khayelitsha. What FEDHASA was suggesting was that establishments simply verify the identity of the guest by checking the identity document without making a copy thereof. POPI set out stringent requirements on how copies of identity documents should be stored.

Discussion

Mr J Vos (DA) noted that creating jobs and growing the economy was not easy and having restrictive regulations made things worse. The figures and statistics presented said it all. He commended the TBCSA for not holding back any punches. The problem was that government was trying to fix something that was not broken. On child trafficking, there were only 23 cases that had been reported to the South African Police Services (SAPS) yet the Minister of Home Affairs Mr Malusi Gigaba spoke about 30 000 cases. In his view, Minister Gigaba was a “Tourism Terminator”. It was unacceptable that the Minister was yet to meet up with the TBCSA. There was no lack of trying on the part of the TBCSA. The Minister was simply being arrogant. The Tourism sector outperformed many other sectors any day. He was disappointed that Minister of Tourism Mr Derek Hanekom had not supported the TBCSA. Minister Hanekom should have stepped up to the plate to speak up for tourism. Decisive action needed to be taken. All that Minister Hanekom had said was that the immigration regulations had affected tourism. Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa should have also entertained the TBCSA’s request. He asked why the Director General of Home Affairs was angry with the TBCSA for wanting to voice their concerns with Deputy President Ramaphosa. He asked why the immigration regulations could not simply be scrapped. Why were impact assessments of the immigration regulations not done? There was a government circular which required ministers to do impact assessments. It should have been done. He referred to the figure of 132 passengers that were denied boarding due to the immigration regulations’ requirements. He felt that Minister Gigaba should be fired for implementing the regulations which was formulated on the basis of wrong data. Furthermore when the inter-ministerial committee had agreed to concessions they had not considered the implications. Only having three desks to assist passengers at OR Tambo International Airport was a dire consequence. The offer of the TBCSA to the DHA to finance the appointment of more officials at OR Tambo International Airport had been ignored. He said that members supported the TBCSA in its efforts and said that there would be a public outcry. The matter was far too important to be ignored. He felt that the timing of the briefing had been perfect. The unabridged birth certificate requirement needed to be scrapped. He emphasised the implementation of e-visas as a way forward. The DHA had announced that it was to have a pilot project on e-visas in 2017. He hoped that an impact assessment of e-visas would be done. Countries using e-visas had seen increases in tourist arrivals. SA’s neighbours were also upping their tourism game. Countries like Zimbabwe were upgrading their airports; more airlines were coming in with greater amounts of flights. Even though things looked bad it could be fixed. 

Ms Ramawela, on human trafficking, said that the TBCSA totally supported government’s efforts. Relatively speaking SA was a safe country. SA was seen as a safe destination for tourists. SA was in the A-list of countries as a destination. The fact of the matter was that the TBCSA had not been spoken to. The Minister of Home Affairs had not met with them. The TBCSA had asked the DHA to speak to them before implementing the immigration regulations. It had not happened.

Ms P Adams (ANC) said that the Committee was well aware of the concerns raised by the TBCSA. The Committee wished to make an impact where it could. Tourism was unfortunately linked to other departments and hence was impacted upon by their doings. Sometimes other departments did not do their work and as a result tourism felt the consequences. Even the Medium Term Budget Policy Statements (MTBPS) Booklet mentioned tourism on its front cover. The role of tourism was being acknowledged. Tourism would always be affected by external things as it did not function in a silo. The Committee had raised some of the same concerns that the TBCSA did. The Committee had engaged with the DHA, its Minister and its Deputy Minister. She felt that the TBCSA should continue with its efforts. The problem of human/child trafficking was unfortunately a reality. The TBCSA was asked whether its transformation efforts were inclusive. DID the TBCSA assist small bed and breakfasts located in small towns? She asked the FEDHASA how long should a copy of the guest’s identity document be kept. Addressing the Airlines Association of Southern Africa, she asked what were the alternatives that the DHA should consider that they had spoke about. Would these alternatives be successful? She noted that the Committee was very passionate about tourism especially domestic tourism. She suggested that in its next meeting with the Committee TBCSA speak about domestic tourism.

Ms Ramawela conceded that at times it could seem that the TBCSA did not take transformation into consideration. Government and the private sector needed to work together on promoting growth. Often however government and the private sector misunderstood each other. She emphasised that it was in the interest of the TBCSA to encourage small business development. These were the TBCSA members of tomorrow. A growing sector made the TBCSA more competitive globally. She noted that the TBCSA had since the beginning of 2016 had meetings with Minister Hanekom. The issue of inclusive growth was discussed. A subcommittee on inclusive growth was even convened and chaired by her. The TBCSA did implement things ie members did implement the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Scorecard. There were campaigns to educate members. There were issues of skills development, enterprise development etc. It went beyond the issue of ownership. As an ex employee of Woolworths, she recalled that company had a programme of developing small farmers who supplied them. Tsogo Sun had a “adopt a guesthouse” campaign. Her members would not be able to remain in business without having domestic tourism as their backbone. She was however concerned about the austerity measures that had been imposed by National Treasury on government departments. Government was a major driver of business in SA. If government did not travel then local hospitality establishments suffered. The TBCSA together with SA Tourism had embarked on a “Finders Keepers Campaign”. It was a challenge for small establishments like bed and breakfasts to get the message of their specials out to the public. The TBCSA worked with the National Department of Tourism (NDT) behind the scenes on domestic tourism. 

Mr Zweigenthal, on proposals made, said that the substance of proposals was made by the TBCSA. The issue was about the immigration regulations being done away with. The TBCSA would have appreciated the opportunity to meet with the DHA and its political heads to come up with alternatives. Countries like Canada, the United Kingdom and the USA had used other ways. For example parents’ names were captured on the passports of children. The TBCSA also wished to discuss the extent of child trafficking. The DHA had not furnished child trafficking information to the TBCSA. Most trafficking was done across porous borders and not via airports. The TBCSA looked at best practises across the world. There were solutions out there. He believed that immigration officials were good at checking on the genuineness of passports but officials also needed training on profiling. Profile training would assist them to spot when children were unhappy or agitated.

Mr Tshivhenga said that industry practice had always been that when a foreigner arrived the establishments would make a copy of the guest’s passport and would capture his details in its guest register. The immigration regulations had removed the word “foreigner” from legislation which now meant that establishments had to obtain copies of identity documents of local South Africans as well. Legislation now covered everybody. Worldwide practise had always been only to make copies of passports of foreigners. The volume of work was now much greater as the identity documents had to be stored in a manner which was safe. POPI Act required identity documents to be kept safe and secured. Why could establishments simply not confirm a person’s identity by simply looking at the identity document without having to photocopy it? The requirement could become a hindrance to business and even be anti-transformative as small businesses lacked capacity.  

Mr G Krumbock (DA) noted that the TBCSA had given the Committee figures on what losses the immigration regulations had cost the economy. He asked the Airlines Association of Southern Africa if it had done a similar economic impact exercise due to long queues at airports and flights missed. It would give the Committee another dimension. He too commended the presenters for not pulling any punches. The presentations had really shown how much damage the immigration regulations were causing. He agreed that the matter needed to be taken to the public arena. On persistent challenges, he asked whether the TGCSA had done an assessment on the elasticity of choice of tourists, especially the northern long haul visitors. How quickly would they change their destinations? This was important when one considered that Australia’s tourism industry had grown by 8% whereas SA’s had declined. The assessment would show that if one did things wrong then the numbers would decline. The issue was about how quickly were visitors willing to flip. It was disturbing that the TGCSA was struggling to get responses from government. He asked how long it would take to get a framework in place for tourism and to deal with the child trafficking issue. Could a new regime be put in place to turn things around quickly? 

Mr Zweigenthal responded that a costing had not yet been done. A missed connection/flight was a real cost. Taking the average cost of a local flight to be R2000 he multiplied it by the 800 missed connections. It came to whopping R1.6m over the first month. Further statistics was not at hand but could be provided to the Committee.

Mr Mabena stated that he would look at the elasticity calculation and provide the resultant information to the Committee. He said that it was fully understood that the DHA had security concerns and that it was not out to destroy the tourism sector. The problem was that they were not consulting and engaging with stakeholders who were affected by their actions.  

Ms Ramawela on how long it would take to come up with a framework to deal with the issues raised ie airport congestion, storing identity documents etc responded that it was not up to the TBCSA to say how long it would take. The issue was about the DHA coming to the table to deal with issues. A challenge was also about how the DHA would be able to communicate its message across to its offices abroad. The TBCSA was ready to come to the party.

Mr Ndasen said that the quicker tourists could be brought into SA the quicker jobs would be created. The issues and challenges out there were not insurmountable. The fact that Heathrow International Airport had a dedicated desk for SA spoke volumes.

Mr Vos said that if the Director General of the DHA refused to engage with the TBCSA and its Minister refused to give them an audience then it was clear that there was no seriousness about resolving issues. He felt that Minister Gigaba had to be replaced.

The Acting Chairperson stated that the immigration regulations were a thorny issue. She noted that the Committee had met with the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs on the matter. She conceded that human trafficking was a reality but the immigration regulations had unintended consequences. The DHA should have discussed the immigration regulations before it had been implemented. The Committee would raise the issue with Minister Hanekom who in turn would take the matter to cabinet. She stated that the Committee supported the TBCSA over the issue of the immigration regulations. The matter would also be brought to the attention of Deputy President Ramaphosa.

The meeting was adjourned.