The first damaging consequence of South Africa’s new immigration regulations has cost one tour operator thousands of euros.
Eleven children and their tour leaders were visiting South Africa from Stockholm for the KSI (Kimura Shukokai International) World Championships in mid-July when they were denied boarding on Qatar Airways.
Secretary General of the Association of Swedish Travel Agents and Tour Operators (SFR), Tomas Olsson, said:“The children were denied boarding at Stockholm by Qatar Airways after the airline representatives had called the South African Embassy.” The Embassy was unable to confirm that birth certificates were not required yet for travel to South Africa.
This resulted in delays for the group, including additional costs for new airline tickets as well as hotel accommodation. The burden of this added cost fell on the tour operators organising the trip as, under European Union legislation, they are liable for the proper performance of the entire trip.
After the children were denied boarding, the birth certificates were collected and the group was allowed to travel the next day via Nairobi. According to Olsson, however, no one asked for the certificates on arrival or departure.
At the time of publication, Qatar Airways was unable to confirm to Tourism Update as to whether they were aware of the incident. The South African Embassy in Sweden had also not responded to requests for comment.
Tour operators are concerned that these incidents will become more commonplace once the law comes into effect in October.
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