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2011-02-07 : RESPONSIBLE TOURISM

Responsible Tourism seems more of a trend lately than anything else: be green, sponsor a community, plant a tree? Some might find it boring already No doubt It has become a business, however if that means that "The Cooperation" is now also sponsoring a local community or planting fields of trees, isn't that great? There are indeed some charlatans around, so if you don't have time to ask questions where your money is going, just look out for the logo of Fair Trade in Tourism

Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa (FTTSA) is a non-profit organisation that promotes sustainable tourism development. FTTSA awards the use of special label to businesses that commit to Fair Trade criteria. (including fair wages and working conditions, fair purchasing, fair operations, equitable distribution of benefits and respect for human rights, culture and environment ) or just book through BelAfrique and mention your interests in responsible tourism. Where I can I will always favor these properties, however it's not always possible nor does it de facto mean that "the others" without the label are bad

For me personally responsible tourism is something logical. Especially living in a country that's been under the system of Apartheid for so long and where the effects thereof are still so very visible. Luckily slowly but surely situations are improving due to many great initiatives, nevertheless Rome wasn't build in one day either, so we need to keep investing

The same goes for the beautiful and divers nature we have in Southern Africa from desert to bush to wetlands, wild- and marine life. How can one not want to preserve all this beauty?

I must admit, I'm no saint, my office isn't fully eco-friendly yet either, my private home can still do with a lot of improvements, however I won't let this be a reason for not sharing how I feel about this and where I feel we all should be striving for. On a very selfish level: do you know how satisfying it is to see a responsible tourism projects succeed and knowing you are part of making it happen?