Following South African Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba’s, statement that regulations under the new Immigration Act will not be changed, the tourism industry is looking at ways to adequately inform international passengers and travel agents. However, travellers will bear the burden of responsibility to ensure they have the right documentation. The new regulations will present logistical challenges. Simon Newton-Smith, Head of Middle East and Africa for Virgin Atlantic, says the new regulations will be a PR and financial disaster for South Africa’s tourism. He says it is unrealistic to expect travel agents and airports with no regular connection to SA to be familiar with the new requirements, particularly the need for passengers under the age of 18 to travel with unabridged birth certificates. “[W]hy should they know about these unique requirements when a passport is the recognised legal travel document everywhere else in the world?” he asks. While the policy is well intended and the industry supports the bid to reduce child trafficking, it will do little other than to hurt the SA economy and create a new black market in fake birth certificates, says Newton-Smith. He says a family who have bought tickets via an online travel agency to fly, say, from Boise, Idaho, to New York on one airline, with a connection to another airline’s non-stop flight to SA, could feasibly be unaware of the new regulations until they arrive in New York. These passengers will be denied boarding and will have to return home at their own cost. Newton-Smith says the airline taking passengers to SA would have to deny them boarding. If they don’t, the airline will incur a fine and be financially responsible to repatriate the passengers on the first available flight. June Crawford, BARSA CEO, also stresses that if a passenger arrives in SA without the right documentation, they would be denied entry and the cost of repatriation would be borne by the airline. “The airlines have already added the requirements on their websites to assist in the facilitation of the Department of Home Affairs’ requirements.” Crawford says airlines and travel agents can use the Iata Timatic, a global instrument, to verify travel documentation requirements for contributing countries, including SA. Although airlines will do everything to keep passengers informed, ultimately it will be passengers’ responsibility to hold the correct documentation, says Newton-Smith. He says it’s currently not feasible to issue prompt messages on the GDS or online with every booking because regulations around the world change on a regular basis, often with little notice to airlines. If the airline prompts a message with the wrong information, it will be held liable.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 06:01:19 +0000
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