The government announced on Thursday that six countries, including South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Botswana, would go back on the red list, due to concerns about a new Covid-19 variant identified in the region.
The move to place travel restrictions on the region has now been followed by the European Union, Israel and Japan.
“While this is most disappointing South Africa will continue working with policy makers in the UK, Japan, Israel and European Union to ensure that the best possible interventions are put in place,” said Sisulu.
“We remain open for business and tourism travel, and we appreciate the continued support from various partners across the world and are confident that through the tourism recovery plan in place, we will reignite demand and once more be tourism strong.”
Sisulu will be attending the general assembly of the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) in Madrid next week, when she will be spreading the message that South Africa “is open for tourists and all measures are in place to ensure tourists’ safety”.
Kgomotso Ramothea, acting hub head at South African Tourism for the UK and Ireland, called the UK government’s move “devastating for the tourism industry, which was just beginning to get back on its feet”.
“We were starting to make progress in welcoming visitors back to our wonderful country as we headed into the destination’s summer season,” said Ramothea.
“We respect the UK government’s need for caution around the new variant, however we are disappointed that South Africa will again be missing out on tourism during the peak season this year which will further delay tourism recovery.
“We would urge the UK government to reconsider current managed quarantine rules to ones that will cause minimal disruption to travel plans, while ensuring that people are equally as protected. We’re hopeful that we’ll be able to welcome UK visitors again soon.”
