Flight Centre Travel Group Welcomes South Africa's Removal From The UK's Red List
JOHANNESBURG, 07 OCTOBER 2021 – The Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) welcomes the “long overdue” announcement by the UK government on 07 October 2021 that South Africa has been removed from the travel Red List. “After months of lobbying by various industry bodies such as SATSA and ASATA and lengthy discussions between scientists and our President and the British Prime Minister, we are delighted by the long overdue announcement that such decisions are now being made on firm scientific evidence – and that travel between the UK and South Africa will now be much easier,” says Andrew Stark, Flight Centre Travel Group MD.
More than 123 countries around the globe are already open (with varying conditions in place) to South African travellers.
“The UK is one of our biggest markets as an outbound travel company, so it will be a huge sigh of relief from a cost perspective. We are hopeful that the news will bring additional air supply into the market. This will be good for our customers giving them more choice and better pricing and availability on flights,” says Stark. “The announcement comes just in the nick of time for the inbound tourism industry which supports the livelihoods of more than 1.5 million South Africans. With the peak December season fast approaching, creating and safeguarding these jobs is of paramount importance.
“For our leisure travel customers, South Africans can now eventually be reunited with family and friends and will be able to visit them over the December and January holiday period. South African holidaymakers now have much more choice, with many bestselling destinations welcoming us, such as Mauritius and Thailand among others, and with the USA set to open to vaccinated travellers with visas from November.
“There is huge reciprocal business between South Africa and the UK so this is great news for SMMEs and multinational companies,” concludes Stark.
***Ends***
FLIGHT CENTRE TRAVEL GROUP SOUTH AFRICA
Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) SA is part of Flight Centre Travel Group, an Australian-based international travel company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. The company is listed on the ASX, with a market cap of AU$4.57 billion and a current share price of AU$22.90 as of 07 October 2021. Flight Centre Travel Group South Africa is a level 1 BEE company with three leading brands: Flight Centre, Corporate Traveller and FCM. FCTG SA is wholly owned and has been recognized as one of Deloitte’s Best Companies to Work for in South Africa for 14 consecutive years.
