Pretoria and Moscow eliminate visas enabling rise in Russian tourist inflow to South Africa

MOSCOW, January 25. /TASS/. Visa-free travel between the Republic of South Africa (RSA) and Russia will facilitate Russian tourist inflow to Africa, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) said in a statement citing travel companies offering tours to Africa. "After waiving visas, the Russian tourist inflow into the Republic of South Africa will increase. In particular, the number of tourists from various Russian regions will grow as for the past several years they had to travel to Moscow to receive visas at the South African consulate," the ATOR sources said. Last week, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree on concluding a protocol between the governments of Russia and the RSA on introducing a 90-day visa-free travel for both countries’ citizens. "We expect this process to be completed by the end of February 2017," a source in Russia’s embassy in the Republic of South Africa told TASS. According to the ATOR, over the past two years, Russian tourist inflow to South Africa dropped as tourists had to visit the consulate to obtain visas, which created additional burdens for people living far from Moscow since regional residents made up a significant part of those travelling to Africa, the ATOR sources added. At the same time, according to the association, once visa-free travel is introduced, the number of individual tourists will also grow. However, it won’t affect travel companies since some issues, including travelling to the most interesting sites and arranging combined programs, are sorted out far more easily with expert assistance. The ATOR says that Russian tourists prefer combined tours that include Cape Town, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, Botswana and other places. Some tours also include beach vacations, fishing excursions, sightseeing and travelling to national parks. The price list for such tours usually begins at $2,000 per person and does not include airline ticket. According to official estimates, around 15,000 Russian citizens visited the Republic of South Africa in 2015. Read more