South African Minister’s India Visit Note

SSouth Africa’s Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille, is visiting India from 18 to 23 August 2026 for a series of engagements aimed at strengthening tourism ties, exploring new partnerships, and enhancing connectivity between India and South Africa.

During her visit to New Delhi, Minister de Lille met with Ms Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson and Managing Director of The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, to discuss potential partnerships and opportunities for greater collaboration across the hospitality sectors of both countries.

The Minister’s Delhi engagements also included the filming of a digital video highlighting the shared passion for cricket and South Africa’s upcoming Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), with the aim of inspiring more Indian travellers to discover the diverse experiences of the Rainbow Nation.

Minister de Lille also met with Air India to explore potential partnerships and discuss opportunities to strengthen tourism promotion, air access and connectivity between India and South Africa all of which are key enablers in deepening travel and people-to-people ties between the two countries.

The Minister has now travelled to Jaipur, where she will participate in the BRICS Tourism Ministers’ Meeting on 21 and 22 August. The meeting will bring together Tourism Ministers from BRICS member countries for discussions on tourism cooperation, knowledge exchange, and opportunities for collaboration.

Her Jaipur programme will also include a series of bilateral engagements with tourism counterparts from multiple countries, providing an important platform to explore new avenues for partnership and further strengthen South Africa’s position as a preferred destination for Indian travellers.

The visit underscores the growing importance of India–South Africa tourism relations and the shared opportunity to build stronger partnerships, improve connectivity and create new pathways for tourism growth between the two markets.