South Africa opens all international leisure, business travels

New Delhi: South Africa is now open to all international leisure and business travellers from all over the globe.

The opening of all international travel follows President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement on Wednesday that South Africa would be moving to augmented alert level 1, thus opening up international borders for all countries with effect from November 11.

"We are excited by the full opening of our international borders because this is a strong testament to the fact that we are open for both business and leisure travel. This opening brings certainty for South Africa, as a travel destination putting us back on the map and the radar for many travellers who want to come to explore our beautiful country," SA Tourism Chief Executive Officer, Sisa Ntshona said in a statement.

All travellers coming into the country will need to supply a negative RT-PCR COVID test not older than 72 hours from the date of departure from their country.

"We know that now more than ever, traveller behaviour is influenced by trust and confidence so our country has put in place globally-benchmarked health and safety protocols. We thank all partners here in South Africa and across the world for their ongoing support and patience. As we gradually welcome tourists and business travellers from all over the world, we look forward to engaging with our partners once again as we work together to package South Africa for various tourists' needs," added Ntshona.

"While we know that there won't an immediate influx of tourists as other countries are now experiencing second waves of the pandemic and have imposed travel restrictions for their citizens, we look forward to welcoming those tourists that can come. They can finally get to enjoy the wide-open spaces, scenic landscape, unique and authentic cultural experiences that South Africa has to offer," concluded Ntshona.

South Africa recently won big at this year's World Travel Market including Sun City voted as Africa's leading casino resort, Plettenberg Bay as Africa's leading beach destination and Durban voted as Africa's leading city destination.

Earlier this year South Africa took the top spot when booking company Tourlane asked its community where their perfect post-coronavirus trip destination would be. The survey saw South Africa as the go-to safari destination, packed with outdoor adventures, applauded for pristine and well-kept beaches.