More group travel and mobility solutions desired by South Africans

There is no getting around the fact that 2026 has been a particularly tough year for South Africans financially. It has resulted in several difficult decisions needing to be made, but when it comes to travel, there is a clear desire to travel abroad.

This at least, is what the latest data from technology services company, VFS Global, tells us. VFS Global has presence in more than 170 countries across the globe, including South Africa, where it has been operating since 2005 to assist travellers with visa applications in particular.

During a media roundtable held at one its Johannesburg offices in Rivonia, VFS Global unpacked some recent local travel trends, and what South African travellers are increasingly needing at the moment.

“South Africans continue to demonstrate a strong appetite for international travel, whether for business, education, tourism or visiting family and friends. As demand grows, it is essential that applicants rely only on official information sources and plan their applications well in advance, particularly during peak travel periods,” Hariprasad Viswanathan, COO for Sub-Saharan Africa at VFS Global, told Hypertext.

More specifically, local travellers are looking at two ways in which the administrative friction and time-consuming activities required before travelling can be addressed.

Here, Viswanathan noted that there is growing demand for group travel and mobility solutions.

“As organisations increasingly coordinate international travel for employees, project teams, students, conference delegates and sports groups, VFS Global is witnessing rising demand for services designed to simplify group application management,” the company highlighted.

On this front, VFS Global has rolled out a number of solutions locally in efforts to reduce friction.

“Group Booking Services enable eligible organisations and travel groups to coordinate visa application submissions more efficiently, while solutions such as Visa At Your Doorstep (VAYD) and On Demand Mobile Visa (ODMV) allow applicants to complete application submission and biometric enrolment at a location of their choice, subject to the requirements of the respective client government,” it pointed out.

“We are also seeing growing interest in flexible mobility solutions such as Visa At Your Doorstep, On Demand Mobile Visa and other group booking services, which help make the visa application process more accessible and convenient while maintaining the robust security and compliance standards required by our client governments. Our continued focus remains on supporting governments and applicants through trusted, transparent and secure services that facilitate seamless global mobility,” added Viswanathan.

Consequently, VFS shared that VAYD volumes in South Africa increased by 65 percent in 2025 compared to 2024, and the numbers for 2026 have already surpassed the total for 2025. Also of note is that ODMV volumes for UK visa operations have also grown significantly, with VFS Global highlighting that it is currently more than twice the application volumes recorded during 2025.

“These solutions help reduce travel requirements for applicants, support large-scale application processing and improve convenience for eligible groups while maintaining the same security and compliance standards as traditional application channels,” it concluded.

[Image – Photo by Mpho Mojapelo on Unsplash]

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