How to get the Green Advantage
08. Oct, 2008
1 Comment
Cape Town – Being green and responsible is good for business, but getting there – and being able to prove it – can be daunting. Having highlighted the confusion of terminology and of the industry about being ‘green’, ‘sustainable’ or ‘responsible’, and suggested ways that travel and tourism businesses could prove their claims to one or more of these terms, the question naturally becomes – where to start?
The highest standard would be formal accreditation. If you feel you’re ready for the big time, here are the main options:
- Fair Trade in Tourism (FTTSA) starts with a self-assessment that is free and provides good suggestions for getting started. The second step is a formal on-site assessment that costs around R2000, but many SMMEs can qualify for 50% assistance if they’re part of the Tourism Enterprise Programme (TEP). It’s important to recognise that FTTSA go beyond environmental issues to full responsible tourism standards.
- Heritage is a private sector consultancy that does environmental rating for a fee. They also have a programme for smaller accommodation establishments (<20 rooms) that is less expensive.
- Green Globe is another standard provided by a private sector consultancy that does benchmarking at bronze, silver and gold levels, based in Australia but servicing companies around the world.
Also worth bearing in mind is that the Green Building Council offers the Green Star SA rating for buildings.
Another standard is self-certification, as provided by GreenStaySA. If you self-certify to a high enough level, they will link you with independent assessors who will do a site visit to verify your rating.
If you aren’t quite ready for accreditation, there are a number of good resources to get you started on the path toward being certifiably green and responsible:
- The City of Cape Town’s responsible tourism resource page
- South Africa’s very practical Responsible Tourism Handbook and Manual. There are also a set of national Guidelines that aren’t very practical because they are so exhaustive, but they do provide a basis for evaluating and prioritising actions.
For various industry segments:
o Accommodation providers: International Tourism Partnership affiliated with the International Business Leaders Forum targets larger accommodation providers with a set of guidelines
o Tour Operators: The Federation of Tour Operators offers a supplier sustainability handbook and guidelines on best practice
o Meetings, conferences and events: The Green Meeting Industry Council has a set of practical resources at the BlueGreen Meetings website for hosts, planners and suppliers. It’s rather US-centric, but still relevant. Interestingly, it includes information on “Blue” meetings and events, which deal with ocean-friendly issues.
If you’re in the Cape Town area, stay tuned for a significant industry-targeted campaign on Responsible Tourism in 2009 coming from a collaboration among the major role-players in the regional industry, and one that hopefully will provide a model for other cities and regions in South Africa.
Change is certainly underway in the industry here and around the world, and it’s better to be part of the leading edge that captures the business advantages of early change rather than being forced into change by the negatives of not keeping up with market expectations. And the best part is, you can help your business now while helping your community, the environment and the overall destination brand to flourish.
[Part three of a 3-part series. Find Part 1 here, and Part 2 here.]
About Blogger
KURT ACKERMANN writes, researches and consults on strategy, business models and brands for organisations adapting to globalisation and technological change. He is the proprietor of the Afrikatourism blog for responsible travel at afrikatourism.blogspot.com.
My name is Muzi Mohale a full-time travel blogger, your host at Travelwires.com responsible for all editorial on this blog. I blog about the travel and tourism industry in Africa. Apart from blogging about tourism, I also run 
Kurt, great piece. You are quite right that it is difficult to pin down the exact actions that need to be taken, but certainly attitudes are changing….and changing fast. Our online booking platform http://www.whl.travel forces us analyse the sustainability of every property or activity that we list on our site. A year ago completing this section was like pulling teeth, now companies are opening and proudly calling us with their various successful efforts.