South Africa to Reopen February 2021

I’ll be leaving from Dallas on Qatar October 18 with one stop in Doha and then on to Windhoek. Will be leaving Windhoek on October 31 and same route home. When and what airline are your dates?
We're working that today, but we might be on the same flight from Doha. There were some concerns about bringing firearms on one of the airlines, which airline are you using?
 
I flew to Windhoek 2 years ago via Qatar through Doha. No issues at all with firearms. TWG arranged it and we provided the necessary paperwork well in advance (I think the deadline is 30 days prior to travel) and had zero problems.
 
We're working that today, but we might be on the same flight from Doha. There were some concerns about bringing firearms on one of the airlines, which airline are you using?

Please let me know your dates as we may be on same Qatar flight it sounds. As far as traveling with your rifle, Qatar Airways is very good with that. However that being said, I’m not bringing my rifles this time over as it may prove more of a hassle than before. So I’m just going to use my PH’s- not ideal but...
 
For what it's worth, news from Africa is never reliable.

https://onemileatatime.com/south-africa-tourism/

South Africa Won’t Open To Tourists Until 2021
MAY 27, 2020 BY BEN (LUCKY) 47
TRAVEL

South Africa is an incredible country to visit, from the amazing safaris, to Cape Town, to wine country. There’s so much to do there, and one of my most memorable trips ever was the South African safari we took my dad on last year.

If you’re hoping to go to South Africa anytime soon, you may have to be patient.

In this post:South Africa’s phased opening approach
South Africa’s phased opening approach
At this point we’re seeing countries take all kinds of different approaches to welcoming back tourists. I’ve written a lot about countries that are reopening soon, like Iceland and St. Lucia, but I think it’s also worth covering countries that are taking their time.

Back in March, South Africa went on lockdown, and it looks like that’s not anywhere close to being eased up. As reported by Africa News, South Africa’s government isn’t planning on opening to tourism for quite a while:

  • Domestic tourism won’t resume until December 2020
  • International tourism won’t resume until February 2021
At least that’s based on a briefing from the Department of Tourism today. I’d note that like everything right now, this is presumably pretty fluid, and the timeline could change, either for better or worse.

Tourism in South Africa is huge, and makes up nearly 9% of the country’s GDP, so presumably they’re anxious to get it restarted. However, clearly the country is taking a cautious approach.

Silo-Hotel-Cape-Town-43.jpg
Cape Town, South Africa



The impact this has on South Africa’s airlines
South Africa has long had a challenging aviation market. South African Airways entered business rescue in December 2019 (and was struggling before this all started), while Comair and subsidiary Kulula.com entered business rescue just a few weeks ago.

If this plan sticks, these airlines will end up more or less being grounded for nearly a year, and that won’t be easy on them. Then again, maybe it’s almost better to just have the airlines grounded altogether, rather than flying with greatly reduced demand.

Presumably some business travel will be happening before the tourism sector reopens, though it seems unlikely airlines could operate flights profitably based purely on business demand.

British-Airways-Comair-Business-Class-41.jpg
Comair entered business rescue a few weeks ago

Bottom line
While anything can change, as of now South Africa doesn’t plan on bringing back domestic tourism until December 2020, and international tourism until February 2021.

Many countries have rather aggressive reopening plans, but South Africa is definitely taking a more cautious approach.

Situations like this are also a reason that all of my travel planning over the next several months will be done last minute, given how quickly things are evolving, both for better and worse.

Are you surprised to see South Africa remain closed to international tourism until 2021?
I sure hope they open up I am supposed to head across in June.
 
The "FEELING" is that it will open up much sooner, maybe even as early as November as they don't really want to lose the Christmas season. Our minister of health mumbled something the other day that the scamdemic is under control.

There is a lot of pressure to get the tourism industry back to work full time. They have been very hard hit! So fingers crossed it happens November or very early December. This would be best case scenario but time will tell.
 
Don't believe everything you read.

Oh, I agree with your sentiment however all we have here in the states is what is in print. I hope you are right.

In addition, I just heard in an African Poscast, “PH Jpurnal” that international travelers will be required to have proof of COVID test negative 7 days prior to arrival in Africa. That will almost be an impossible task in the US to achieve.
Pissing me off with all these roadblocks popping up.
 
Oh, I agree with your sentiment however all we have here in the states is what is in print. I hope you are right.

In addition, I just heard in an African Poscast, “PH Jpurnal” that international travelers will be required to have proof of COVID test negative 7 days prior to arrival in Africa. That will almost be an impossible task in the US to achieve.
Pissing me off with all these roadblocks popping up.

Following up on what I posted yesterday...
IMG_0491.JPG
 

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