South Africa’s Digital Visa Scheme Attracts Over 25,000 Tourists in Six Months

The Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber, announced the launch of phase two of the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme (TTOS), which adds another 45 vetted and approved tour operators to the existing 65 operators that have participated in the programme since its launch in February 2025.

TTOS was conceptualised by Minister Schreiber to address the long-standing challenge faced by tour operators in bringing large tour groups from the burgeoning source markets of India and China to South Africa. It replaced manual, inefficient and paper-based processes that required prospective tourists to travel long distances just to apply for a visa, which then often took weeks to process and required a return trip for collection, with a new online system whereby tour operators upload applications online and get digital outcomes, on average, within 24 hours. The selected tour operators have entered into agreements with the Department to assume responsibility for the tourists they bring to the country.

Since the launch of the TTOS online portal just six months ago, TTOS has already succeeded in bringing an additional 25 024 tourists from India and China to South Africa who would otherwise have been deterred by the visa delays that previously undermined the ability of group travellers from these countries to spend valuable foreign currency in South Africa.

The latest research from Operation Vulindlela shows that one new formal sector job is created for every 13 tourists who visit our country, suggesting that TTOS has already created 1 924 new jobs during its first phase. Building on this success and after a rigorous inter-departmental assessment process, Home Affairs has now expanded the original group of operators from 65 to 110, further boosting the prospects for growing the tourism industry at a time of major economic headwinds for our country.

 “TTOS demonstrates the power of our digital transformation agenda to enable economic growth and create jobs. The fact that we have attracted over 25 000 tourists in just six months working with a small handful of tour operators, confirms the enormous potential of growing this digital-first approach. That is exactly what we doing through the expansion of TTOS, as well as the pending introduction of the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) and dedicated visa schemes for events and the creative industries. Taken together, our digital transformation agenda is set to take South Africa to a whole new level as a global destination.”

– Dr Leon Schreiber, Minister of Home Affairs, South Africa

“Each reform we implement must be viewed as an individual piece of the bigger digital transformation puzzle we are building. All of our work is guided by our vision to deliver Home Affairs @ home, by building digital channels that enable both South Africans and legitimate travellers to obtain services online, from the comfort of their own homes. TTOS demonstrates the power of turning this vision into practice.”

– Dr Leon Schreiber, Minister of Home Affairs, South Africa