Cape Town – The tourism industry is making a significant difference to the GDP of our country, but is it making a difference in people’s lives? Do the right people benefit? Or are only the fat cats getting fatter? And can we categorically say that we are protecting the environment, assessing the environmental and cultural impacts of the industry on our area before we develop a product or destination, or do we assume that everybody will be only too happy if we bring tourists to a community or an area? And how is the tourism economy handled? Is it managed effectively? In short, we need to ask ourselves if the tourism industry is really living up to the high standards that are set regarding fair trade in other industries like the coffee, cocoa, sugar and wine industries – to name but a few. Fair trade is after all a market-based approach to alleviating global poverty and promoting sustainability. So, how sustainable is the South African tourism industry?
South Africa is the first country to have an organisation that addressed this issue proactively. The Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa (FTTSA) organisation has made steady inroads into the South African industry by educating and training frontline workers and publicising fair and responsible business practices in the industry. The recognition of being FTTSA-certified is sought after by many a tourism enterprise.
According to Michael Lutzeyer from Grootbos Nature Reserve near Gansbaai, the FTTSA certification is increasingly becoming a requirement for overseas agents who do business in South Africa. Ashley Wentworth of Stormsriver Adventure in the Tsitsikamma – one of the first businesses to have been certified – agrees with Lutzeyer that, although the effect of being FTTSA certified was slow to manifest at the beginning, operators are increasingly looking at finding responsible partners. He adds that not only the tour operators and agents, but also the visitors are becoming more and more discerning about who they use and being FTTSA certified is certainly not a peripheral benefit.
Wilfred Chivell of Dyer Island Cruises, states that doors have been opened for his business not only internationally, but also nationally since his accreditation. With government having to allocate licenses for his kind of operation he feels sure that FTTSA certification will give him added credibility. Paul Miedema of Calabash Tours in Port Elizabeth, also found FTTSA to be a reference point both nationally and internationally around fair trade and tourism issues. He said: “Being certified is becoming more and more relevant to our clients. Most of our clients are inbounds, and we find them to be comfortable using a township tour company whose products are certified.”
But how exactly is FTTSA contributing to its high ideals of fair share, democracy, respect, reliability, transparency and sustainability in an industry that is fragmented, seasonal, has a high staff mobility and is influenced by so much that is not within its control?
With 8 staff members and an Executive Director who are accountable to a 5-member Board of Directors, FTTSA has already certified 35 establishments. These range from country lodges, through to bush camps, adventure activities and backpackers. Jennifer Seif, Executive Director represents FTTSA all over the world and has been giving valuable input into many local tourism industries that are not yet operating in a way that is consistent with the standards of fair trade in tourism.
Says Seif about the early years, “When FTTSA first started, we found that there was very little awareness in the industry about the principles of fair trade and sustainability, and of certification and the role that it plays in helping businesses to improve their operations and access niche markets. Today however, there is growing recognition by the private sector of the need to contribute to transformation and sustainable development, and our certification mark is recognized by more than half of the South African tourism industry.”
The FTTSA certified businesses today represent seven out of the nine provinces in South Africa, which translates into a remarkable journey of assessing candidates over a wide field. Lisa Scriven, FTTSA Certification Manager, says of the progress, “We are able to assess and provide input on fair trade operations to a wide range of tourism products, ranging from large establishments to micro-enterprises. In fact, one of our most recently certified enterprises is a bicycle tour of the Masiphumelele township in Cape Town, owned and operated by a sole trader.”
What makes a FTTSA-certified establishment different? It seems that it is a focus on sharing what the industry can offer with as many people in as many ways as possible. I spoke to owners of four very different businesses. Paul Miedema, co-owner of Calabash Tours in Port Elizabeth, Michael Lutzeyer of the Grootbos Private Nature Reserve, Stormsriver Adventure’s Ashley Wentworth and Wilfred Chivell of Dyer Island Cruises in Gansbaai.
Calabash Tours started in 1997 and is owned and operated by a young, dynamic team. They share a vision of tourism being a powerful development tool, while balancing the social needs of the poor with the desire by visitors to have fun, to learn, and to engage with the South African people in an ethical way.
Grootbos Private Nature Reserve and accommodation in the Overberg, conserves 1700 hectares of pristine fynbos – the vegetation type that makes the Cape Floral Kingdom one of the most diverse and exciting floral kingdoms in the world. Michael Lutzeyer and his team have also developed the Green Futures College where unemployed youth are equipped to enter a career in conservation, landscaping or ecotourism.
Stormsriver Adventure near Plettenberg Bay evolved from humble beginnings in 1998 when the staff component was only three. Yet in spite of having grown considerably they still show a strong commitment to the company ethos by employing 84% of their 80 employees from the surrounding communities. Ashley says that since their FTTSA certification [they have now successfully been assessed for the third time] they have added benefits for their staff, like medical aid, profit share and feeding schemes – the latter both for people and animals using the animal feeding scheme to instil a value system in the children of the neighbourhood.
Dyer Island Cruises offers visitors up-close experiences with whales, seals and other marine life in state-of-the-art boats. The sister company Marine Dynamics, is the first shark-cage diving operation to become FTTSA-certified and possibly the first to receive responsible tourism certification world-wide.
FTTSA has met the expectations of Calabash Tours, and all the establishments I spoke to, agree with that. At Calabash Tours they feel that as a certification body FTTSA has maintained a credible set of standards in an open and transparent manner. “We found the on-site assessment process to be most useful because the feedback comes in the form of very practical advice in order to build a more sustainable product. FTTSA is also doing great advocacy work, which promotes the brand, and gets the industry aware of sustainable tourism issues. Lastly, we have found FTTSA is accessible, open and engaging around challenges we may find in our business.”
To this Wentworth added that they had a huge challenge at Stormsriver Adventures addressing the HIV awareness issue that is prevalent in the area, and without the input and help of FTTSA they would still not have been able to address it effectively. He says that being FTTSA certified is an excellent developmental tool and in their case further enhanced what they were already doing.
Lutzeyer was sure that they would pass the FTTSA assessment with flying colours first time round, but was surprised to hear in the initial feedback on their application that they lacked in some areas. He says that the assessment therefore, was an excellent monitor for internal value of the business.
In response to my rather unfair question of “Did being certified by FTTSA increase feet to your business?” none of the respondents were sure if it did so directly. Miedema feels however, that certification certainly has assisted Calabash in starting ahead of the pack. “FTTSA has certainly taken us, and all certified products, into the market, unlocking both international and domestic marketing opportunities. As a business we capitalise on those linkages, which does bring more clients. So indirectly perhaps, yes. It must be noted though that we only expect FTTSA to build the certification brand and credibility in the brand. As individual certified products, the rest is up to us.”
Wentworth says that he cannot put his finger on exactly how many of the 44% that constitute his international clientele do so because of his FTTSA certification. He feels that our domestic market definitely needs more education about fair trade in the tourism industry.
Chivell of Dyer Island Cruises however, is very clear on the fact that he has already experienced an increase in visitors since his certification. People who were initially hesitant to deal with him are now far more forthcoming and this has increased his competitive edge considerably in a very competitive and challenging industry.
As for the future of fair tourism in South Africa Miedema feels that FTTSA could attempt to bring tour operators on board in a more meaningful way. Says Paul “While many sign an MOU with FTTSA in order to use the logo, and promote their products as ethical, they often tend to use the 4 and 5 star properties only, which they may have been using before anyway. They need to be introduced to the smaller activities and products too.” He feels that although this is contentious, there needs to be looked into some form of formal endorsement for tour operators and that it should be done in defence of the credible brand. But, says he “I am pleased to see that FTTSA is looking at the issue of community tourism and models around it.” This, we agreed, is critical.
Chivell agrees that focusing on people in the industry is the right emphasis, but states that more attention should be paid to conservation issues in general.
Says Seif about the way forward, “There are a number of opportunities for FTTSA including developing standards for new categories of tourism product like voluntourism; working with partners in SADC to extend the concept of fair trade in tourism to other destinations like Mozambique; and working more directly in the distribution channel. As a small organisation we must choose which opportunities to pursue, and growth of our South African portfolio will remain a top priority.”
Scriven added that FTTSA will soon launch an online application questionnaire, which will streamline the application for certification process and make it more user-friendly. She expects this innovation to unlock a new wave of applications and expects that FTTSA will have more than 50 certified products in its portfolio in the near future.
In closing, Chivell says he has always bought into the whole concept of sustainability in tourism and is excited about now being part of FTTSA. The last word goes to Wentworth who says: “I’m incredibly positive about FTTSA. Not being certified is not even an option anymore. FTTSA certification assures you that you are doing your bit to ensure that the industry is just that little bit more fair and thus a lot more sustainable.”
[FTTSA website: www.fairtourismsa.org.za]
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