Don't close a country's borders when a new variant is already there, pleads aviation body

Tourism minister Lindiwe Sisulu and Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have joined the ranks of those slamming "knee-jerk" travel restrictions imposed in response to the omicron variant.

"Closing your borders after the virus or variant is already inside your country is not going to achieve anything. That is what the science is telling us. We have to push back and challenge governments on why restrictions were imposed," Walsh said during a virtual briefing this week.

Travel restrictions are imposed more because governments "think they are sending a strong message that they are taking action" than because of the actual threat aviation poses, Walsh opined.

IATA is calling for travel bans to be rescinded immediately.

So, too, is Sisulu, who labelled strict travel bans on SA a "knee-jerk" reaction in a statement from the Department of Tourism on Friday.

"South Africa is open for business and continues to be a safe destination of choice with a diverse tourism products and experiences. To ensure the safety of tourists and the sector, norms and standards for the safe operation of the tourism sector in the context of the pandemic and beyond had been implemented," Sisulu said.

The decision by a number of countries, including the UK, France, Germany, US and Canada to impose tight travel restrictions on SA when the omicron variant was identified in the country, "has wreaked havoc on existing and future business as South Africa enters its peak inbound international tourism period," according to the Department of Tourism.

Sisulu recently attended a gathering of the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) where she lobbied for the body to back South Africa and other African states and called on the world to reopen its borders. 

Sisulu also met with her counterparts from Algeria and Mauritius and Venezuela and they agreed to continue cooperation in promoting tourism between the their respective countries and in southern Africa and the African continent.

Walsh expressed concern that should there be further variants, it would be damaging to scapegoat the travel, tourism and aviation sectors instead of focusing on the danger of spreading the virus within communities.  

"Governments are quick to put travel restrictions in place, but when the reasons for doing so turn out no longer to be valid, they are slow to remove the travel restrictions. We have to deal with a global pandemic problem with global cooperation and listening to the health experts at the World Health Organisation," said Walsh.