African states urged to review visa regimes, airfares

Cutting red tape: Thamane says bureaucracy is overburdening youth enterprise
Cutting red tape: Thamane says bureaucracy is overburdening youth enterprise

DURBAN: Unfavourable visa conditions and the ever-rising cost of air travel remain the biggest limitation to the growth of the tourism industry in Africa and there is a need to counter the trend as a matter of urgency.

The call was made this week by South African Minister of Tourism Patricia De Lille when officially opening the Africa Travel Indaba here on Tuesday. This year’s Indaba, which ended on Thursday (yesterday) had more than 350 tourism products showcased and featured 1,000 buyers from the global tourism ecosystem as well as just under 1,000 exhibitors.

Most notably, the attendees included destination marketing bodies, hotel groups, airlines, tour operators, and 10 African tourism boards from 21 African countries, including the Botswana Tourism Organisation.

Editor's Comment
GBV: The big elephant in the room

Sadly, the country seems not to have proper tools and the extent to which women and the girl-child are being abused is not adequately measured.Almost every week there are reports of women being attacked by their significant others and while men are attacked as well, women seem to be more on the receiving end.On May 24, 2023 news broke that a woman who was receiving support from the Botswana Gender-Based Violence Prevention Centre in Gaborone, was...

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