Johannesburg – In a move expected to boost tourism, the Home Affairs Department has announced the second invitation for applications to the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme (TTOS).
The department said tour operators who want to apply 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.
The department said as with the first intake, applications will be assessed by an interdepartmental team using Artificial Intelligence tools to vet and select successful participants.
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Since the first tourist visa applications from China and India were processed through this scheme on 12 February 2025, the department said it has been inundated with requests to expand it so that more tour operators can contribute to driving tourism growth.
The department said it was encouraged by the positive response, which confirms the enormous potential visa reforms hold to create more jobs by bringing more tourists to our shores.
Responding to the interest shown in the TTOS, Home Affairs Minister Dr. Leon Schreiber opened the second window for more tour operators to apply to join the scheme.
The department said additional upgrades have been made to the online platform that processes TTOS applications.
Launching the invitation on Friday, (4 April 2025), Minister Schreiber said: “The key to the success of TTOS lies in the fact that the process has been digitally transformed from start to end.
“Whereas prospective tourists from China and India previously had to stand in long queues, submit paper applications, and sometimes wait so long for paper outcomes that they missed their flights, the digitalisation of this process through TTOS means that even visa outcomes for large groups are now issued digitally within hours.”
Minister Schreiber added: “In the weeks since TTOS was launched, over 2 000 additional tourists from China and India, who would otherwise not have come to our country owing to previous visa inefficiencies, have come to our country.
“Even more encouraging is the trend of applications received.
“On the first day of operation, 12 February 2025, 21 applications were received.
“Yesterday, (3 April 2025), this figure had grown to 165 per day and shows no sign of slowing down.
“The intake of more operators will further accelerate this growth as Home Affairs delivers on our commitment to replace a manual, paper-based and insecure visa system with secure, world-class digital infrastructure to drive economic growth.”
