CEO UPDATE - OCTOBER 2020
Dear Friends Across the World,
We are delighted to announce the start of international travel into South Africa as our borders re-opened yesterday, 01 October 2020.
I am pleased to advise that there are many countries who will have immediate access for leisure travel including for example, Canada, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Turkey, Japan, Singapore, China, Mauritius and our African neighbours, as these are countries which are considered low to medium risk.
Low risk countries are ones with a lesser number of infections of COVID-19 and death toll than South Africa and medium risk are those with a relatively equal number of infections and death toll to South Africa.
Unfortunately there are a number of countries that have been deemed high risk, meaning they have a higher infection and death toll rate than South Africa (e.g. USA, UK, Netherlands, India, Russia, etc.) and they are not as yet permitted entry for leisure travel.
The good news however is that the list of high risk countries will be reviewed every two weeks and if the number of COVID related cases are on the decline, there is a strong possibility that these countries will be given the green light to resume leisure travel to our shores. Rest assured, we have our finger on the pulse and will be in immediate contact with you as and when these changes occur.
All travellers are required to have a negative PCR Covid test result (72 hours prior to their flight from country of origin) and adhere to the mandatory safety measures while in South Africa.
Below are the countries, currently listed as high risk:
Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium. Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Georgia, Greece, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Luxemburg, Maldives, Malta, Mexico, Moldova , Montenegro , Nepal, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Oman, Palestine, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Suriname, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Emirates, United Kingdom, USA and Venezuela.
In other exciting news, our NEW annual brochures go online mid October. We may have been locked down, but not so our brochures. We’ve been working hard behind the scenes to ensure their readiness and look forward to sharing these with you in due course.
We have been making good use of our time and over the past 8 months have been improving our IT system - I will provide further updates on this towards the end of November this year. The new system will bring enhanced efficiencies and value to our staff as well as our loyal customers.
At Thompsons Africa, we’re ready to hit the ground running! We have everything in place to assist you in welcoming your guests to our beautiful destination and we are excited to be reigniting our industry.
Kind regards,
Jonathan
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Tel: +27 31 275 3500
Email: info@thompsonsafrica.com
Thompsons Africa is part of Cullinan Holdings Ltd, whose main shareholder is The Travel Corporation, a family-owned entity with 45 offices worldwide and an envied reputation for delivering quality, service, and value. We also have trusted, long-standing supplier relationships that extend back in excess of 40 years. We are proud to be part of a joint initiative by The Travel Corporation family of brands, called The TreadRight Foundation — a not-for-profit that works to ensure that the environment and communities we explore, remain vibrant for future generations.
