Sustainable Tourism Strategy for Southern Africa

Transcription

1 RETOSA s Sustainable Tourism Strategy for Southern Africa Presentation by: Kwakye Donkor, Marketing and Communications Director At Sustainable Tourism Certification Alliance Africa nd Annual Conference 1

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3 Regional Tourism Organization of Southern Africa Background A SADC institution mandated to develop regional tourism in Southern Africa, ffacilitate and promote ethical and equitable tourism growth and development for the benefit of SADC citizens and visitors, ( Foresight in the Protocol on Tourism Development) When RETOSA when established the focus was on marketing. The thinking was lets get as many tourists as we can. Destinations and tourism operators were focussed on marketing and bringing in the numbers without regard to sustainable, responsible or green tourism development Recently MSs have realised that with all the marketing tourists are not coming, be because product quality and most recently Demand for a Green Product. Until recently the region s tourism sector has played lip service to the issue of sustainable tourism development Major challenges being Awareness, Capacity and Strategic Approach. RETOSA Board has now added Product development, harmonization of 3 policies, regulations and standards as well as sustainable tourism development

4 Sustainable Tourism Development in Southern Africa: Vision: To become the regional destination of choice to the global and regional traveller by Mission: To achieve our Vision by providing a globally competitive, value for money, green tourism product to all our visitors by 2027 through a skilled and motivated chain of suppliers and highly satisfied Consumers. The above Vision and Mission statement are the basis and guide in crafting our annual programs. Holistic Approach: Our understanding is that sustainable tourism is achievable only if we tie in everything we do as a sector, at Regional, National Organizational and Individual level including our sector s relationships with other sectors. It encompasses the Social, Economic, Environmental and Political 4

5 Sustainable Tourism Development in Southern Africa: Responding to the Trends Travel Trends and demands by 21 st Century Tourist : Seeking for a green tourism product Wants the most for less money and less time (Value for money) Wants Multi-destination packages To achieve sustainable tourism standards our stakeholders have to: Think globally and act locally. To respond to the local and global needs and changes. So we have this broad understanding of sustainable tourism. On that basis we have to decide that we need a broad-based Regional Policy Develop a Framework and Strategic Plan on Green Tourism Development in Southern Africa, which will guide all the players in order for us to achieve our Vision. 5

6 Sustainable Tourism Development in Southern Africa: Responding to the Trends Guiding Principles for the Policy and Plan are: Environmental (sustainable tourism) awareness among all stakeholders Protection of tourism environments (biodiversity, culture and heritage sites) Adoption of sustainable management practices by all players Poverty alleviation through tourism/capacitating Local Communities Climate change adaptation and mitigation systems by Tourism Sector. 6

7 Sustainable Tourism Development in Southern Africa: The Holistic Approach All programs and projects are now guided by our Vision, Mission and Principles given above and this is reflected in our current programs: Measurement, Statistics and Information Regional Online Tourism Database Capacity Building in collecting and collating tourism statistics Product Development and Harmonization of Tourism Quality Standards Sustainable Tourism Criteria/Green Tourism Standards Certification Awareness, Capacity Building and Skills Development Training Workshops Integrated Communications and Campaigns Community Based Tourism: Targeting vulnerable groups Women and Youth Integrated Marketing Approach Single Regional Destination Tourism Investment Promotions: Regional Tourism Infrastructure Development Master Plan Partnerships: MSs, Pvt Sector, Academia, Local Communities and ICPs (Forums) 7

8 Measurement, Statistics and Information Statistics: What you cannot measure you cannot manage. We must develop the capacity to gather and use information. To be able to measure the impact of our programs at every level. Performance Indicators to be focusing on : Quality Standards, Green Tourism Criteria and Certification Carbon Footprint and Eco compensation We want to have the capacity to measure our carbon footprint as a sector from the regional down to the local/entity level. We must be able to offset the carbon we emit as a sector. Impacts of Climate Change, Adaptation and Mitigation measures. Southern Africa Online Tourism Database: A useful tool, providing, collecting and sharing real time information between and among the policy makers, regulators, suppliers, local communities, consumers and other stakeholders. 8

9 Harmonization of Regional Tourism Quality Standards and Certification RETOSA s program on harmonization of quality standards and skills development will now include the setting of requirements, standards and criteria for green tourism accreditation and certification in Southern Africa. The program involves: Institutional Arrangements Awareness creation/campaign programs Harmonization of Policy and Regulatory Framework Training and Skills Development (workshops) Running regional competitions under the following categories: best regional green community based operator best green tourism commercial operator best green city in Southern Africa best green destinations in Southern Africa RETOSA is working in partnership with FTT on the sustainable tourism development program, more specifically on the issue of standards and certification. RETOSA is engaged with UNEP for technical support to develop the Regional Green Tourism Policy Framework and Strategic Plan. 9

10 Integrating Community Based Tourism into Mainstream Regional Tourism If locals do not benefit or do not see value in our tourism then it is not going to be sustainable. Local Communities must derive benefits from tourism resources and activities in their areas by mainstreaming CBT by promoting value chains within local economies This in turn will help : Reduces imports and leakages. Maximise contribution of tourism to local economies RETOSA will be developing a Regional CBT Development Strategy. Technical support and funding for the project has been secured from JICA. To this end and under this program JICA has identified and is planning pilot projects with Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe as part of the region wide program. 10

11 Sustainable Tourism Development in Southern Africa: The Holistic Approach Target Groups: Women and the Youth In Africa experience is teaches us that: If we capacitate the women we have capacitated the nation. If we capacitate the youth we have secured our future. Rural Women and the youth are usually marginalised and bear the brunt of poverty. Yet they are closer to the tourism natural and cultural tourism resources. Therefore, if our tourism is to be sustainable, then: We must be able to reduce the poverty in our communities through tourism. We must create opportunities for wealth creation for our women and youth in the communities. We must build their capacities so that they can exploit the opportunities. Our CBT development programme is targeting women and youth. RETOSA will run projects involving the creation of regional Associations with structures and capacity building initiatives cascading down to the national and local levels. 11

12 Sustainable Tourism Development in Southern Africa: The Marketing Approach Our approach looks at sustainability in a very broad sense. Everything that we do must contribute to the long term sustainable development of our region as a tourist destination Competitive Green Tourism: The global market now demands a green tourism and quality product. Competitiveness in the global market place Harmonization and implementation of quality and skills improvement programs Promotion sustainable tourism practices. The region produces and sells green tourism products. Single regional destination image: There is power in unity, there is sustainability in unity, Refined regional destination brand strategy & identity - Experience Southern Africa with brand communication s and management strategy We want to maximise benefits for our member states through economies of scale. Going Forward Our marketing strategy, going forward and based on this holistic and single destination approach is to be able to market Southern Africa as a green tourism destination by

13 Sustainable Tourism Development in Southern Africa: The Total Approach Integrated regional tourism development - To achieve our Vision we have to: Respond to the market demands Harmonize the tourism regulatory and operating environment. Make it easier and friendly for the visitor to travel across our member states Spread the tourism (dollar) benefits across the whole region. Regional tourism development must be ethical and equitable. Partnerships through Regional Fora: As part of RETOSA s engagement with stakeholders, including public sector technocrats, private sector and academics, the following annual for a have been established: Southern Africa Tourism Research and Development Forum. Southern Africa Tourism Quality Standards and Green Tourism Forum. Southern Africa Tourism Marketing Forum Southern Africa Tourism Private Sector Forum Southern Africa Women in Tourism Forum Southern Africa Youth in Tourism Forum. 13

14 Partnerships and ICP Support Technical and funding support from interested ICPs is critical to the implementation of the entire programme. To date RETOSA has secured support of a good number of ICPs: Agreement with WES (Belgium) secured for training in short term Tourism Strategy Planning Courses. RETOSA has a memorandum of understanding with UNWTO for Capacity Building programs in identified areas. Currently our focus has been on Tourism Statistics. We have an agreement with JICA for support in CBT and ecotourism development. Engaged with UNEP for technical support to develop the Green Tourism Regional Destination Strategy Discussions are on going with organizations like UNEP, SNV etc. for capacity building and skills development. GPST: At its recent meeting in Bonn, Germany, RETOSA was elected to be a 14

15 Thank you 15