South Africa is limiting its marine tourism potential with unnecessarily strict visa rules for International cruise yacht visitors, according to the Ocean Sailing Association of Southern Africa.
The current 90-day limit on travel visas is problematic for many visiting skippers and their crews, who often require longer stays in order to effect necessary maintenance or repair work, plus spend time exploring the country. An extended time period would mean more income for the economy.
The issue surfaced at this month’s African Boating Conference during a panel discussion on marine tourism. Key marine tourism stakeholders raised concerns about the current visa rules, and urged government to consider introducing a cruising permit that would enable longer stays for cruising visitors, in the form of a maritime tourism visa/permit.
“A maritime cruising permit would make a huge difference,” said Osasa’s Jenny Crickmore-Thompson. Boats are currently able to stay for six months, whereas their crews generally only get the traditional 90 day visa. Royal Cape Yacht Club general manager Toni Mainprize agreed. “People are having to fly out and come back in,” she said, adding that the rules did nothing to advance the cause of either growing the local repair sector or extending the tourism potential. Repairs often took longer than expected, resulting in owners or skippers needing to spend longer in the country.
OSASA also raised concern about port clearance protocols adding further frustration to the cruising community. “The Department of Transport and BMA have standardised procedures, but one of my biggest problems is trying to get that official standardised process to actually be enforced so that it is the same countrywide,” Crickmore-Thompson said. Discrepancies between ports, with different procedures depending upon the location, created negative feedback and frustration among the cruising community when trying to negotiate different requirements from different ports, she said, adding that the discrepancies were an administrative headache for OSASA officials mandated to provide administrative oversight for the Department of Transport.