A family that benefits from tourism
As the green revolution slowly picks up speed globally, one finds that products on demand will have a market advantage if they carry a green label or brand. This is already quite well established in the manufacturing and agricultural industry with labels such as Rainforest Alliance and Fair Trade International that provide a brand to a product that essentially proves the product was produced in a responsible manner. This concept is now growing in the tourism industry. Tourists are more aware of environmental issues and will now make decisions on the choice of their holiday depending on how green the destination or product they are buying. Travel agents selling vacation packages have been quick to pick up on this concept and many agents are now green at home. This means they are compliant on key green issues, such as offering customers the opportunity to offset their carbon on flights, use energy saving bulbs in their offices, and make sure their staff have a workplace that does not impair their health.
Tourist with Maasai girl
The stumbling block for many agents will be their product, they might be clean and green at home but what happens to all the holidays they sell, primarily in third world countries where the regulatory framework is behind the current trends and sometime corrupt. How can they sell a green holiday? The provision of local, on the ground accreditation bodies that can evaluate, report, and place an appropriate label on the performance of the ground operators and hotels will provide the agents with the mechanisms to a product that is green and compliant with the customer’s principles.
Responsible tourism supports local development
Currently, the Honeyguide Foundation is working to create a local ‘Sustainable Tourism’ accreditation body to work with outlines crafted by international organizations (e.g. Sustainable Tourism International). The reason why a local accreditation body (e.g. Ecotourism Kenya) is necessary in Tanzania is because a locally focused organization can more appropriately identify situations in which tourism enterprises in the area can become more ‘eco-friendly.’ For example, international bodies are unable to properly say how staff in a tourist camp in Tanzania should be equipped. And because of this disparity between the international sustainable tourism framework and actuality on the ground, the HGF understands that with a robust local accreditation body a healthy, world-class sustainable tourism market will grow in Tanzania.
Tourists are taken walking by Maasai guides
Yet, the establishment of such an organization that will provide the platform for tourism companies to improve responsible management as well as advertise their success through branding will require a careful approach to ensure that the organization is effective and provides the services that the tourist/ agent require. This also includes achievable targets within the interests of the ground operator or hotel. It is inside these parameters the HGF is working to introduce the next chapter of Tanzanian tourism to the world.
