Experts welcome plan to revise unabridged birth certificate law
Tourism experts have welcomed the recently announced changes to be made to the new visa regulations.
The announcement was made last week.
Among other things, the law that requires parents to present the unabridged birth certificates of their minor children when travelling will be amended.
There are now plans to print the parents' details in children's passports that will be applied for in future.
Home Affairs has received a backlash since the new regulations came into effect last year with a notable decline in the country's tourist numbers.
Tourism expert and Research Director at North West University Melville Saayman says it's a positive step.
"Any barrier that makes it difficult for people to travel to South Africa in a very competitive environment, should be removed like the one that we've seen. It just says to the world - we are open for business, we are available and we want families to travel to South Africa," he said.
Donovan Muirhead of the National Accommodation Association of South Africa has echoed Saayman's sentiments.
He's however raised concerns over the proposed time frame to implement the changes.
"They said this will take anything from three months to one year to roll this out. Now, in the current economic climate with everything else which is occurring we are in desperate need of these funds coming into the country and the door is ajar but it's not open," he said.
(File photo: Passport)