Madam Chairperson, at this conference held by the Southern African Tourism Services Association, which I attended, very serious concerns were raised regarding the impact of the new visa regulations on South Africa's tourism industry. The conference, which was attended by very important industry role-players, such as large hotel groups, tourist service providers and companies that market tourism packages for South Africa abroad are deeply worried about the negative impact which the new biometric visa is having on South African tourism. Some have even confirmed that in China, one of South Africa's largest markets of tourism income, all marketing packages have come to an end.
The Tourism Business Council of SA reported at this conference that the impact of the new immigration regulations is that the country may lose 270 000 international tourists and in turn lose 21 000 jobs annually due to these regulations costing the country almost R9,7 billion. This begs the question: Why is our government not implementing electronic visas? This government must without fail implement electronic visas to undo the negative blow to our economy and to streamline tourist facilitation to our country as this would cut the turnaround time for the issuing of travel documentation and also, in fact, is more secure than the existing permits. Madam Chair, also given the decline in the domestic tourism figures, a serious and concerted effort must be made to deal with the issues relating to the rural development and marketing, preferential pricing for South African citizens, visiting state-managed and owned facilities and, lastly, also the affordability of travel, which is a hindrance to many South Africans.
To conclude, despite these challenges, the DA supports the report, but would also like to thank and acknowledge the work done by the tourism industry to help grow our economy, create jobs and position South Africa as a destiny of choice. Thank you. [Applause.]