As global air travel accelerates toward an unprecedented 14 billion passengers a year by 2035, one question sits at the heart of modern mobility: “Why does getting a visa still feel like the slowest part of international travel?”
While airports invest billions in contactless gates, biometric corridors and AI-powered security, the very first step in the journey, the visa, remains, for many travellers, the most frustrating and inconsistent barrier.
The recently released WTTC–SITA Better Borders report puts visas under a bright spotlight. Its conclusion is unambiguous: unless governments modernise and digitalise visa systems, the world will struggle to meet the demands of next-generation travel. Worse, outdated visa policies will continue to cost countries vast sums in lost tourism, trade, and connectivity.
The visa as a strategic instrument
The WTTC argues that visas are no longer just administrative tools; they have become strategic instruments that shape competitiveness. A country with an easy, predictable, digital visa regime stands to gain significantly, particularly in high-value tourism and business travel. Conversely, slow, opaque, paper-based systems drive travellers elsewhere.
Data shows the potential impact. Across the G20, European Union and African Union, smarter and more accessible visas alone could help unlock a projected US$401 billion in GDP and create 14 million additional jobs over the next decade.
The Traveller Has Changed But Visas Haven’t
Today’s traveller plans with a smartphone, stores their documents in digital wallets. Yet many visa processes still involve embassy appointments, physical paperwork, long processing times and inconsistent communication. Not only does this contradict the way modern travellers move, it also undermines the investments airports and airlines are making to speed up every other part of the journey.
The report brings this contradiction into the stark spotlight: border modernisation will only reach its full potential if visas are transformed in parallel.
Digital Visas: The First Major Step
The WTTC–SITA roadmap calls for nations to fully digitalise visa and travel authorisation systems. This includes:
- Online applications with transparent timelines
- Mobile-friendly platforms
- Digital payment options
- Real-time status updates
- Elimination of in-person interviews except in high-risk cases
- Integration with biometric or digital identity credentials
These efficiencies are not simply conveniences; they are security enhancements. Digital systems allow governments to screen travellers earlier and more accurately, reducing workload at airports and improving risk detection.
The Path Toward Pre-Travel Clearance
One of the most transformative ideas in the report is the shift from border control to border management, processing travellers before they travel, not after they land. This approach already exists in countries that use electronic travel authorisations (ETAs), e-visas and low-risk traveller programmes such as Global Entry.
When passengers arrive pre-cleared, border officials can shift resources to higher-risk cases rather than processing the entire plane manually.
For markets with high passenger growth, Africa included, this model could dramatically reduce queues, terminal congestion and operational strain.
Africa’s Opportunity: A Visa Revolution
African nations are exploring various levels of visa liberalisation, from ECOWAS free movement to Rwanda’s universal visa-on-arrival policy. The African Union has also advocated for an AU-wide e-visa platform, though its implementation remains uneven.
For Africa, modern visa reform is not only about attracting tourists; it is crucial for positioning the continent as a global aviation hub. As more airports from Addis Ababa to Johannesburg are upgraded for digital borders, outdated visa regimes threaten to become the weakest link in the chain.
Visa reform could be one of the fastest, lowest-cost ways for African nations to boost inbound travel while enhancing security.
Visa Systems Linked To Digital Identity
Several forward-thinking countries are now exploring visa systems linked to digital identity wallets. In these models, a traveller’s identity, and in some cases their travel credential, resides securely on their mobile device and can be used across airlines, airports, hotels and border systems.
The Aruba Happy One Pass offers an early glimpse of how visas, passports and biometrics could eventually merge into a single digital travel credential. As the WTTC notes, such systems reduce paperwork, fraud and processing times while elevating the passenger experience.
The Cost Of Standing Still
The report warns that, without visa modernisation, borders will struggle to manage future travel volumes. Traditional visa systems cannot scale to handle billions more travellers, nor can airports afford the physical expansion required to compensate for outdated administrative requirements.
Travellers will simply choose destinations that welcome them quickly and digitally.
A Call For Political Courage
Visa reform requires coordination between the ministries of Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Tourism and Finance. It also requires the political will to challenge legacy systems, longstanding risk perceptions and sometimes even diplomatic reciprocity rules.
But the message from WTTC and SITA is simple: delaying visa modernisation is no longer a neutral choice, it is a competitive disadvantage.
The World Is Ready. Travellers Are Ready. Now Governments Must Be.
Visas were created in another era. They were never designed for the scale, speed or digital expectations of modern aviation. Yet they remain the first impression a traveller receives from a nation, and one of the last areas of global travel still waiting for transformation.
If the world wants to achieve true seamless travel, the journey must begin long before passengers reach the airport. It must begin with rethinking the visa.
