Tag: Department of Tourism

The Department of Home Affairs is currently calling for public comment on the draft of a new Critical Skills List. However, Foreign Language Speakers, a role that featured in the previous list, has been omitted from the draft List. Foreign language employees are more valuable than the language they speak and are critical to job creation inside South Africa’s borders.

After more than two months of hard lockdown, corporate travellers have been itching to get back to the boardroom. With Level 3 regulations implemented on June 1, a number of businesses were able to resume operations while business travellers could – to some extent – take to the skies again.

Tourism is a significant sector. It directly and indirectly supports 8,6% of South Africa’s GDP. Its economic activity encompasses all non-commuter passenger travel, car hire, a wide range of accommodation types, a vast array of activities and attractions, conference centres, retail and restaurants and services such as tour operators, travel agents, conference and event organisers and the like.

Government published the Tourism Amendment Bill on April 12. If this had happened on April 1, one could have believed that it was an April Fool’s Joke, so comical is the logic underlying the bill. The amendment, once adopted, will mean that all ‘short-term home rentals’ are legislated under the Tourism Act.