Thank you Mr Minister, Thank You Sir. My wife and I have just been given a return air ticket to a Paradise Island in Indonesia for an all-expenses paid holiday and that, Sir, is all thanks to you and your team of dedicated experts. How did all this transpire you might well ask?

 

Well, my Indonesian wife has not seen her family for many years. They have heard, from my wife, so many wonderful things about SA that they have decided to dig deep into their pockets and come and visit their daughter and experience our great country. That was plan A but they were in for a shock.

They found that the family of 5 had to pay R 27 800 for their return flights from Manado (their nearest airport) to Jakarta, just to apply for their Visas.  Add to that R 6 750 for their VFS office visit.  Then it is another, R 3030 for the 5 visas. Add R 2 000 for 1 nights hotel accommodation. Throw in 2 days unpaid leave, 3 x Unabridged Birth Certificates, and translations they were looking at upwards of R 40 000 before they have even started their holiday.

Now I know that R 40 000 is ‘small change” for you and your colleagues, but it is a small fortune for a middle class working family in Asia. To cut a long story short, they have decided on plan B. My Father In-law has offered to pay for two return tickets for my wife and I to go on holiday with the family on Bunaken Island in North Sulawesi.

I am sorry that South Africa has lost out on a little extra revenue that the family would have spent here. But it all adds up and according to the expert, the lost income to South Africa could be over R6.8bn annually, inevitably leading to job losses in the South African tourism sector. I am sure you can all live with that.

Oh Yes…about my Visa to Indonesia. Well, I don’t need one. I get a free Visa on Arrival. Imagine that. You see Mr Minister, the Indonesian Government take certain things very seriously. Things like fighting unemployment and improving their balance of payments. That is why they have an GDP growth rate of + 5 % compared to our measly 1.5%. (Even Zimbabwe has a GDP growth more than twice that of South Africa and Mozambique 7.4 %.)

While we are languishing with one of our biggest tourism arrival declines since apartheid, Indonesia is flying Sir. 13% (including a 26% increase in arrivals from China) in 2014. The main difference is that Indonesia welcomes tourists (and Nobel Peace Prize winners) and tries to make it easy to visit.

So, once again Mr Minister,‘Baie Dankie’. I owe you a beer.