Tourists warned of rise in holiday scams
Holidaymakers have been warned of a rise in holiday scams, with dodgy travel agents now using more sophisticated methods to swindle people out of their hard-earned cash.
It comes as the tourism sector continues to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Recent data from Stats SA revealed a 46.5% jump in the number of foreign travellers to South Africa between June 2022 and June this year.
The Association of Southern Africa Travel Agents’ Otto de Vries says one way of avoiding scams is through verifying your booking agent’s registration with ASATA.
"If the deal is too good to be true, follow your gut instinct because it probably is. Pressure to pay via EFT is akin to being asked to make a cash payment. If that money is paid into an account and they disappear with your money, your recourse is minimal.
"Our recommendation that we make in that regard is to look out for the ASATA logo, visit the ASATA website, search and ask if the operator you are about to work with is one of our members, and if they are not, then you do need to add that as a potential red flag."
