Responsible Tourism, one of those phrases often heard and thrown about, but seldom understood and effectively practiced in a South African context.

What is responsible tourism?

The South African White Paper on Development and Promotion of Tourism describes responsible tourism as: "Tourism that promotes responsibility to the environment through its sustainable use; responsibility to involve local communities in the tourism industry; responsibility for the safety and security of visitors and responsible government, employees, employers, unions and local communities."

Just how important is "Responsible Tourism" in the South Africa context? A recent survey by the online travel newsletter, Travel News Now ran a pole asking: " Do your clients favour tourism products that practice responsible tourism?” The results, a staggering 69% responded YES!

However, a question that often gets asked is; “but tourists never ask us about responsible tourism when booking, so why do it?" the short and simple answer to this is that tourists expect tourism product owners to be operating in a responsible manner, if they do not experience this during their visit, they are unlikely to return or recommend your product to friends and family

With the growth in international travel, raised consumer awareness for environmental issues, it seems responsible tourism is here to stay, so what can you do to keep up with this growing consumer need?

1) Learn More

Finding out how you can make a difference and what are issues facing our industry, consumers and our planet is the first step in deciding what you can do to implement "responsible tourism" practices in your business.

In 2002 DEAT published a very use friendly and informative guide to responsible tourism, this can be downloaded as a PDF from the following link: www.etc-africa.com/resources

2) Make changes

Making the changes you need in your business can often be a daunting task. Take a slow approach and make changes where you can and look for continuous improvements.

A good strategy is to keep a record of all your business activities including water use, energy use, projects you support, where you purchase your supplies etc.... this will assist you in measuring your progress. See what other establishments are doing and get some new ideas by visiting www.southafrica.net and search for 'responsible tourism

3) Get recognized

By implementing responsible tourism practices, you have opened the door to recognition by the tourism industry and additional marketing angles.

There are several certification schemes available in South Africa that can help you reach the highest standards, these include

Fair Trade in tourism:www.fairtourismsa.org.za

Greenleaf:www.greenleafecostandard.net

Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg, any well implemented responsible tourism strategy will also give you significantly improved community relations, better staff retention and a very valuable unique marketing angle...plus of course, its just the right thing to do.