Around 2000, the South African NGO Fair Trade Tourism (FTT) started to put in place a fair certification programme for tourism products. The standard includes fair remuneration, decent working conditions, a fair sharing of revenue and respect for cultural traditions and the environment.
Special attention is paid to the South African context, with training of black workers, co-management by black people and awareness-raising on HIV and AIDS. Two decades later, more than 79 initiatives such as hotels, lodges or adventure activities have been certified.
In 2013, the TDC financed a study into the opportunities for FTT-certified travel on the European market. Tour operators may call a travel product FTT-approved if at least 50% of overnight stays or activities is FTT-certified. In 2017, 38 South African and 21 European tour operators offered FTT-labelled holidays. This includes Zuid-Afrikareizen from Brecht which the TDC put in touch with FTT and which since has become the first Belgian FTT-certified tour operator with two fair trade holidays in its offer.
The TDC further supports FTT in its strategy to increase the number of certified tourism products in South Africa and to expand to the whole southern African region.
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TDC and sustainable tourism in Tanzania
The Enduimet Wildlife Management Area is located in Tanzania, right next to Kilimanjaro. This area is mainly inhabited by the Masai, but is also the home of elephants and many other wild animal species. The local Masai community was looking for a way to improve their standard of living and at the same time take greater care of the animals and their environment. They found a solution in the development of responsible tourism with the support of the Trade for Development Center and the local NGO Honeyguide Foundation. Check out for yourself how they do this!
Fair and community-based tourism
We all know fair trade bananas, coffee, chocolate… but do you know about fair tourism? It is less known, but booming! The United Nations declared 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development recalling the potential of tourism to advance the universal 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Trade for Development presents presents 4 community-based tourism projects that it supports.
Tourism as an incentive for local communities to protect nature
In regions where existing ecosystems suffer from human pressure, tourism can provide part of the solution.
Inspired by successful experiences elsewhere in the world, the Honeyguide Foundation, with the financial assistance of the Trade for Development Centre, supports the development of sustainable tourism in the north of Tanzania. The Maasai population is given an extra financial incentive to protect its natural environment.
