Pretoria: Home Affairs Minister Dr. Leon Schreiber has gazetted a second invitation for applications to the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme (TTOS). Since the first tourist visa applications from China and India were processed through this scheme on 12 February 2025, the department has been inundated with requests to expand it so that more tour operators can contribute to driving tourism growth.
According to South African Government News Agency, the department expressed enthusiasm about the “overwhelmingly positive response,” which highlights the potential of visa reforms to create more jobs by attracting more tourists to South Africa. In response to these calls, and after making additional upgrades to the online platform that processes TTOS applications, Schreiber opened a second window for more tour operators to apply to join the scheme.
Tour operators have 30 days to submit their applications through the dedicated online portal accessible via the department’s website. No paper-based applications will be accepted. Applications will be assessed by an interdepartmental team using Artificial Intelligence tools to vet and select successful participants.
The digital transformation of the TTOS process has eliminated the need for prospective tourists from China and India to endure long queues and paper applications. The digitalisation allows for visa outcomes to be issued digitally within hours, even for large groups.
In the weeks since TTOS was launched, over 2,000 additional tourists from China and India have visited South Africa, a significant increase attributed to previous visa inefficiencies being resolved. The trend in applications has been promising, with an initial 21 applications on 12 February growing to 165 per day by 3 April. The intake of more operators is expected to further accelerate this growth, as Home Affairs continues to replace a manual visa system with secure, digital infrastructure to drive economic growth.