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Sustainable Tourism

Why Sustainable Tourism

Beautiful beaches in Bali littered with plastic. Residents demonstrating in Amsterdam and Barcelona against overtourism. Disturbance of wildebeests during the migration in Kenya as safari vehicles stand in their way so that tourists have the best photo op. These are news and pictures we have seen one too many times now.

While tourism is one of the key economic sectors in the world and especially in developing countries, we are also recognizing that its impacts cannot be shoved away anymore.

In destinations, we have seen for a while now an emerging trend to become more ‘green’ or ‘eco’, and consumer research shows an increasing awareness towards having a more sustainable lifestyle and sustainable travel. Sustainability has become a buzz word and still, many associate sustainability above all with environmental impacts. Others seem to see it as a form of ‘greenwashing’ and again others may just focus on very specific areas of being ‘sustainable’.

So, what is sustainability all about and why should we care as a tourism business?

What is sustainability?

Sustainability focuses on meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

The concept of sustainability is composed of three pillars:

economic, (Profit)
environmental, (Planet)
social (people)

- referred to as the 3Ps of the environment; or more formally as the triple bottom line.

But what is the right balance between these three dimensions to achieve long-term sustainability?

The COVID-19 Pandemic – a catalyst for sustainability?

Tourism is one of the hardest hit sectors during the COVID-19 pandemic, including tremendous losses in income, employment and foreign exchange, increased vulnerability of marginalized groups, loss of wildlife and biodiversity and the list goes on. The pandemic has brought sustainability back into the spotlight and acted as a catalyst, transporting sustainability to the top agenda in future tourism development.

As UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres pointed out on 25^th August 2020:

“It is imperative that we rebuild the tourism sector in a safe, equitable and climate friendly manner and [by doing] so ensure tourism regains its position as a provider of decent jobs, stable incomes and the protection of our cultural and natural heritage”.

Source: Here

Importance in your Business

So why is the concept of Sustainability so important for you as a business?

It gives you the ability to future proof your business
It gives you the opportunity to create business strategies that are holistically approached, and
It contributes to the development of local communities, protection and conservation of natural resources (environment) and gives you and the local community economic rewards.

Sustainable Business Models

What are Sustainable Business Models?

A sustainable business model can be defined as a business model that creates, delivers, and captures value for all its stakeholders without depleting the natural, economic, and social capital it relies on.
Its main purpose is defined as “creating, delivering, and capturing value for all business model stakeholders while acknowledging natural and social/societal limitations”,

i.e. co-create societal and business value through considering any effect on any possible stakeholder, while the involved (external) systems’ limitations are considered.

Sustainable Development Goals

Introducing the Sustainable Development Goals

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which is a framework comprising 17 goals and 169 targets, through which States, civil society, and private sector can guide and measure their contributions to sustainable development towards 2030.

The SDGs replaced the Millennium Development Goals and were adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2015. The goals are interconnected and tackle issues like poverty, climate change and education. Related to tourism, three SDGs are most relevant:

SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth
SDG 12 – Sustainable Consumption and Production
SDG 14 – Life below Water

Impact of Tourism

Understanding the Impact of Tourism

Tourism is cross-sectorial, engages with multiple stakeholders at different levels - international, national, regional and local – and is one of the fastest growing economic sectors. It contributes to:

Job and wealth creation
Economic growth
Environmental protection, and
Poverty alleviation

Specifically, it can for example:

Empower host communities
Generate trade opportunities
Preserve natural and cultural heritage
Foster peace and intercultural understanding
Rejuvenation of cultural traditions and arts

Sustainable tourism aims to mitigate its negative impacts such as carbon emissions, economic leakages, overuse of resources, degradation of land and heritage sites, sexual exploitation, adverse impacts on communities and culture, by encouraging collaboration between relevant stakeholders, improved destination management and decisive decision-making.

Differences between CSR and Sustainability

What are the Differences between CSR and Sustainability?

CSR speaks to the corporation’s ethical responsibilities, whereas business sustainability speaks to staining systems over the long run.
CSR does not speak to equity across generations.
Shared value argues that companies can generate value for the firm and society simultaneously. Like CSR, it too ignores the importance of time. Creating shared value often takes a long time, but many businesses are unable to see very far into the future.
Sustainability conveys greater ambition because it focuses on what we need to achieve, rather than where we are today.
Sustainability emphasizes a common agenda for all sectors of society, while the “C” in CSR calls out corporate practices more exclusively.
Sustainability is a holistic concept that encompasses the full range of environmental, social, and economic issues addressed by our work. While the same is true of a good CSR strategy or program, the “S” in CSR is too-often construed to mean a narrower focus on social issues.
Sustainability represents a concept that is more easily integrated into the core purpose of businessthan “responsibility,” which is often perceived as a check or counter-balance to business-as-usual activity.

What is Sustainable Tourism?

As per UNWTO, sustainable tourism should:

Make optimal use of environmental resources that constitute a key element in tourism development, maintaining essential ecological processes and helping to conserve natural heritage and biodiversity.
Respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities, conserve their built and living cultural heritage and traditional values, and contribute to inter-cultural understanding and tolerance.
Ensure viable, long-term economic operations, providing socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders that are fairly distributed, including stable employment and income-earning opportunities and social services to host communities, and contributing to poverty alleviation.

What we need:

Participation of informed and relevant tourism stakeholders
Political leadership to ensure a participatory approach and consensus building
Recognize that it’s a continues process that requires constant monitoring
Introduce preventive and/or corrective measures along the process as and whenever necessary
Meaningful tourist experiences and a high level of tourist satisfaction
Create awareness with tourists about sustainability issues and promotion of sustainable tourism practices

Importance of Sustainable Tourism

Why is sustainable tourism important?

Society: All stakeholders are involved thus the benefits are for all.
Environment: Minimal impact through responsible consumption, conservation and preservation.
Culture: Through cultural heritage preservation, we strengthen our integrity, the wealth of knowledge and skills that is transmitted from one generation to the next.
Economic: Sustainable economic growth attempts to satisfy the needs of humans but in a manner, that sustains natural resources and the environment for future generations.

The tourism industry is predicted to recover. Scenarios and timelines are yet unclear; however, it still means that any negative impacts caused as a result of tourism will grow with increasing numbers thus indicating an urgent need for these to be carefully managed and mitigated through sustainable tourism practices.

Principles of Sustainable Tourism

What are the principles of sustainable tourism?

Using resources responsibly.
Reducing over-consumption and waste.
Maintaining biodiversity.
Integrating tourism into planning.
Supporting local economies.
Involving local communities.
Consulting stakeholders and the public.
Training staff.
Marketing tourism responsibly.
Undertaking research.

Role of Tour Operators in Sustainability

Understanding the Role of Tour Operators in Sustainability

They are the intermediary, therefore strategically positioned to advocate for sustainable change across the industry.
They have the bargaining power to influence change both in private and government sector.
They market to and communicate with consumers, thus can advocate for better practices.
They influence the supply chain into best practices as they can support them through sales.
They can rally for change through promoting sustainable tourism and lobbying for nationwide destinations to emulate sustainable practices.

Where do you start?

Design a business philosophy and integrate it in your business strategy.
Align the business philosophy with sustainability by including your belief in your:
- Company Mission and Vision
- Marketing Strategy
- Business Operation and Strategies
Develop your policies with a social-cultural and environmental backdrop

Integrating Sustainability measures in your operations

Human Resource Policies

Employee Contracts
Living wage
Medical and Liability insurances

Supply Chain Policies (accommodation, transport, destinations)

Where do they source their products?
How do they interact with the local communities?
How are they contributing to sustainable development?

Procurement Policies

What sort of paper do you use?
What sort of packaging do you use?
Where are your client giveaways from?

Sustainability Initiatives

What are your sustainability pillars?
What do you wish to attain? What SDG is your initiative aligned to?

Sustainability Communication

Internal communication
External communication

Components of success

Components of success in sustainable tourism

Sustainability is a journey: It’s a continuous process that needs to be informed and agile, especially during times of crisis
It’s a holistic approach: It’s about balancing the impacts along the 3 P’s, People, Planet, Profit.
Standards and Metrics are key: To be sustainable inclusive you must work with a recognized standard, where you must be able to measure and report on the impact.
Partnerships and Collaboration are needed: To attain sustainability you need to work with all stakeholders to achieve the common good.
Get your ‘house’ into order: Streamline your internal processes and understand the complex nature of your supply chain to create added value.

Terrainjani

There are single trip coverage plans, multi-trip coverage plans. Some providers also offer yearly travel coverage.

Single Trip – occasional travel on the year. TIP: It is good to buy an Insurance for the duration that exceeds the trip days, just in case of any unforeseen delays.
Multi-Trip – Multiple trips in a year. Each Trip is lasting for less than 30 days.
Yearly coverage – Frequent travelers, valid for the whole year.

Plans and packages vary with different kinds of providers. It is good to check the terms with your provider.

WHO IS TIERRANJANI AFRICA?

WHO IS TIERRANJANI AFRICA?

Tierranjani Africa is a Sustainable Tourism Development firm that focuses on building capacity for tourism and travel related organizations, tourism associations, destinations, conservation organizations, community based tourism organizations and local governments.

Our services focus on delivering innovative and sustainable tourism solutions and approaches that can be adapted to future proof tourism businesses and destinations whilst contributing to Sustainable Development in Africa.

We are tourism and travel specialists who have a wealth of experience in tourism development and in tourism operations in the African and international context. We understand different scopes and different angles of tourism that contribute to Sustainable Growth for both the commercial and non-commercial aspects of travel and tourism.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Ms Barbara Schott, Responsible Tourism Advisor

Email: barbara@tierranjaniafrica.com

Phone: +254 (0)7 93 007 898

Website: www.tierranjaniafrica.com

Take a Quiz

Why Sustainable Tourism

Why Sustainable Tourism

What is sustainability?

What is sustainability?

The COVID-19 Pandemic – a catalyst for sustainability?

The COVID-19 Pandemic – a catalyst for sustainability?

Importance in your Business

So why is the concept of Sustainability so important for you as a business?

Sustainable Business Models

What are Sustainable Business Models?

Sustainable Development Goals

Introducing the Sustainable Development Goals

Impact of Tourism

Understanding the Impact of Tourism

Differences between CSR and Sustainability

What are the Differences between CSR and Sustainability?

What is Sustainable Tourism?

What is Sustainable Tourism?

Importance of Sustainable Tourism

Why is sustainable tourism important?

Principles of Sustainable Tourism

What are the principles of sustainable tourism?

Role of Tour Operators in Sustainability

Understanding the Role of Tour Operators in Sustainability

Where do you start?

Where do you start?

Integrating Sustainability measures in your operations

Integrating Sustainability measures in your operations

Components of success

Components of success in sustainable tourism

Terrainjani

WHO IS TIERRANJANI AFRICA?

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