South Africa’s tourism and hospitality sector claim they have lost over R1-billion in travel bookings for travel between December 2021 and March 2022 in the past 48 hours, as a result of the travel bans instituted globally against the destination since it announced that it had sequenced a new variant, now known as Omicron. However […]

Johannesburg, 27 November 2021: The following are the latest requirements for travel to or via the Netherlands from South Africa, as issued by the Dutch government, following the detection of a new Covid-19 variant, Omicron. Test requirements for travellers from South Africa on KLM All passengers travelling on KLM from South Africa, irrespective of their […]

An Airbus A340 plane has landed in Antarctica for the first time in history, according to Hi Fly, the boutique aviation company behind the flight. On Monday (November 22), Captain Carlos Mirpuri and his crew flew the aircraft from Cape Town in South Africa to Antarctica and back, in a 2,500 nautical miles journey that […]

Britain’s Health Minister, Sajid Javid, has confirmed that two cases of the new Covid-19 variant – Omicron – have been detected in Britain. Both patients had recently travelled from Southern Africa. Javid said: “Late last night I was contacted by the UK Health Security Agency. I was informed that they have detected two cases of […]

JOHANNESBURG, 27 November 2021: Air France says it has taken note of the French authorities’ decision to suspend arrivals from South Africa (and six other southern African countries) for a period of 48 hours as of November 26. As a result, Air France is cancelling its flights from Johannesburg to Paris (AF 995) on November […]

South Africans on two KLM flights to Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands were allegedly herded like sheep yesterday into a small waiting area, after sitting on the tarmac for three hours, and later abandoned by KLM staff and left without food, blankets or access to their medicines while they waited crowded together – with no […]

South African National Parks (SANParks) is sadly bracing itself for mass booking amendments from residents of various countries across the world, following announcements by several regions – including the UK, US and EU – that they will be imposing travel restrictions in and out of South Africa due to the newly discovered Covid-19 Variant of […]

Johannesburg, 26 November 2021 – On Friday morning the Dutch government announced that South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe have been flagged as a “very-high-risk area where there is a COVID-variant of concern”, Omicron. This means passengers flying KLM from South Africa to the Netherlands will only be permitted to board if they […]

It sure feels like Black Friday for South Africans as the world moves to ban travel to and from the country, following the confirmation yesterday by South African authorities that a new “dramatically different” variant has been identified in the country. The variant – B.1.1.529 – has over 30 mutations according to SA scientists and […]

The South African government says it has noted the announcement by the United Kingdom (UK) to temporarily ban all flights from the Southern parts of Africa, including South Africa, from entering the UK due to the detection of a new Coronavirus variant, B.1.1.529. South Africa confirmed on Thursday that it has detected the new Coronavirus […]

The South African travel and hospitality industry has reacted with outrage at the UK’s decision to temporarily ban travel to and from South Africa, placing SA on its Red List from midday UK time today. SATSA slammed the decision, with its CEO David Frost saying: “It is far too early to tell what the impact […]

It was inevitable. Within hours of the South African Health Department and NICD confirming that a worrying new variant – B.1.1.529 – has been identified in South Africa, the UK (which only recently removed SA from its Red List) has announced that it is temporarily banning flights from South Africa. Israel has also put a […]

The newly launched African Nature-Based Tourism Platform is seven months into its first year of a three-year project phase connecting funders to beneficiaries in 11 countries. The platform is an innovative collaboration to channel vital COVID-19 relief and recovery funding to communities and small and medium enterprises involved in nature-based tourism in Africa. Africa witnessed […]

With the extension of the State of Disaster to 15 December 2021, FEDHASA has called on the South African government to use all other mechanisms at its disposal to control the spread of COVID and avoid instituting regulations which hamper the hospitality sector’s operations and ability to secure jobs. “As an industry, we are not […]

A 47-year-old Dutch tourist narrowly missed losing his testicles in South Africa, after a cobra bit him whilst he was sitting on the toilet. The snouted cobra (Naja annulifera) bit the man while he was holidaying on a nature reserve in SA. Apparently he spotted the snake at the bottom of the toilet bowl just […]

With the relaunch of a double-daily service between Cape Town and Durban, kulula.com says it has fully restored its pre-COVID route network. In the case of the Cape Town and Durban service, capacity has actually increased, says Desmond O’Connor, kulula.com Chief Commercial Officer. Pre-COVID, the airline operated one flight per day on the route. Daily […]

Journalist Ted Botha has just travelled almost 1,500 km from Cape Town to Pretoria… so that he can vote in Johannesburg, where he’s registered to vote. It’s a journey that not only reveals Ted’s appreciation for how important every single vote is, but also shows the hidden secrets and beauty that exist across this land, […]

South African National Parks (SANParks), together with Total Energies and FNB will be hosting the 16th annual SA National Parks Week from 22 to 28 November 2021. The free access will only be valid until Friday 26 November at the following national parks: Addo, Kgalagadi, Kruger, and the Tsitsikamma section of the Garden Route National […]

South African National Parks (SANParks) says the award recently bestowed on Table Mountain as a Leading Tourist Attraction in Africa for 2021, together with a nomination of the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company (TMACC) as the World’s Leading Cable Car… “brings much-needed hope to the ailing tourism sector hugely affected by the novel coronavirus”. Dr […]

After many long months, South Africa is officially off the UK’s red list as of 11 October 2021. Fully-vaccinated South Africans are now cleared to enter the country for both business and leisure purposes without having to worry about quarantine. The news led to a frenzy of bookings from South African travellers keen to travel […]

Cape Town has done it again! South Africa’s beautiful Mother City has been voted as Africa’s Leading City Destination in the World Travel Awards (WTA) 2021. And Table Mountain has been voted the continent’s leading tourist destination. The City of Cape Town said in a statement on Friday: “This award is recognition of the sterling […]

In a heartfelt post on Facebook, two brothers have paid tribute to their father, German tourist Michael Mirschel, who died yesterday – Sunday 9 October – after jumping from a luxury houseboat that had caught fire in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa. The brothers – Alex and Mario – wrote in German about the last 48 […]

South Africans can now download their digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate following the official launch by the Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla. Addressing a media briefing on government’s efforts in the fight against COVID-19 and the national vaccination rollout programme on Friday, the Minister said the certificate could be used for travel and tourism, sport […]

South Africa is finally being removed from the UK’s dreaded Red List! From Monday!!! This means anyone entering the UK from South Africa, who is double-vaccinated, will no longer need to spend £2,000 on mandatory 10-day quarantine in the UK! The news comes as a huge relief for South African expats who haven’t seen their […]

The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has lifted its advice ‘against all but essential travel’ for over 30 countries and territories. The change, announced today, means UK travellers will be able to visit these destinations with greater ease… although still not South Africa. SA is not on the list of 32 countries and, […]