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Linking Culture and the Environment

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206 Tourism <strong>and</strong> Poverty Alleviation<br />

Box 12.1. Examples of sustainable tourism initiatives from different stakeholders.<br />

United Nations Initiatives<br />

The United Nations World Tourism Organization Sustainable Tourism – Eliminating Poverty<br />

programme; One of <strong>the</strong> programme’s initiatives in sou<strong>the</strong>rn Africa has been <strong>the</strong> development<br />

of an online community-based tourism directory (Spenceley <strong>and</strong> Rozga, 2006).<br />

The International Trade Centre of <strong>the</strong> United Nations Conference on Trade <strong>and</strong><br />

Development is a technical cooperation agency whose mission is to support developing <strong>and</strong><br />

transition economies, <strong>and</strong> particularly <strong>the</strong>ir business sectors, in <strong>the</strong>ir efforts to realize <strong>the</strong>ir<br />

full potential for developing exports <strong>and</strong> import operations with <strong>the</strong> ultimate goal of achieving<br />

sustainable development. International Trade Centre’s (ITC) Export-led Poverty Reduction<br />

Programme (EPRP) is to contribute to <strong>the</strong> goal of reducing <strong>the</strong> proportion of people living in<br />

extreme poverty by half in <strong>the</strong> year 2015 <strong>and</strong> operates through pilot projects in countries<br />

having submitted to ITC a formal request for technical assistance in sectors that offer best<br />

leverage for poverty reduction: Community-based Tourism (CBT) being one of <strong>the</strong>m. The<br />

EPRP concept of CBT focuses on <strong>the</strong> development <strong>and</strong> promotion of tourism businesses<br />

<strong>and</strong> services in which poor communities can play an entrepreneurial role (ITC, 2005).<br />

Private sector initiatives<br />

Tour Operator Initiative (TOI) for Sustainable Tourism Development was launched in 2000<br />

<strong>and</strong> is hosted by <strong>the</strong> UNEP. It is a network of tour operators who have voluntarily joined<br />

forces to improve <strong>the</strong>ir business practices <strong>and</strong> raise <strong>the</strong> awareness within <strong>the</strong> industry. It<br />

is a platform to develop ideas <strong>and</strong> projects to address <strong>the</strong> economic, social, cultural <strong>and</strong><br />

environmental aspects of sustainable development within <strong>the</strong> tourism sector (WTTC/<br />

IH&RA/IFTO/ICCL, 2002). The TOI also drafted Global Reporting Initiative indicators for<br />

tour operators’ sector (GRI, 2002a).<br />

The Association for Independent Tour Operators (AITO) developed a Responsible<br />

Tourism policy in 2001 that prioritizes protection of <strong>the</strong> environment; respect for local cultures;<br />

maximizing <strong>the</strong> benefits to local communities; conserving natural resources; <strong>and</strong> minimizing<br />

pollution. It is anticipated that within a few years members will have to endorse <strong>the</strong>se<br />

guidelines as a condition of membership. Members are assisted to formulate <strong>the</strong>ir own<br />

Responsible Tourism strategy through a database of Responsible Tourism Advice Notes,<br />

available to <strong>the</strong>m on <strong>the</strong> member’s only section of <strong>the</strong> AITO web site (www.aito.co.uk).<br />

NGO initiatives in Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Africa<br />

Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa (FTTSA) is a non-profit organization initiated as part of<br />

<strong>the</strong> World Conservation Union (IUCN), <strong>and</strong> in 2002 launched a trademark that it would<br />

award to enterprises meeting FTTSA’s criteria of ‘fairly traded’. FTTSA markets <strong>the</strong> br<strong>and</strong><br />

so that tour operators <strong>and</strong> consumers can choose tourism products that have obtained an<br />

independent hallmark of ‘fairness’ (Spenceley et al., 2002).<br />

The International Centre for Responsible Tourism – South Africa (ICRT-SA) has a mission<br />

to contribute to economic development, social justice <strong>and</strong> environmental integrity<br />

through <strong>the</strong> development <strong>and</strong> promotion of Responsible Tourism by: (i) influencing public<br />

institutions, <strong>the</strong> tourism industry, donors <strong>and</strong> tourists to integrate <strong>the</strong> principles of responsible<br />

tourism into <strong>the</strong>ir policies, operations <strong>and</strong> activities; (ii) communicating <strong>the</strong> principles of<br />

responsible tourism through capacity building, education <strong>and</strong> awareness programmes to <strong>the</strong><br />

broadest possible constituency; (iii) initiating <strong>and</strong> undertaking research to develop knowledge<br />

to support <strong>the</strong> implementation of responsible tourism; <strong>and</strong> (iv) creating a network of<br />

individuals, institutions <strong>and</strong> tourism enterprises supportive of <strong>the</strong> objectives of <strong>the</strong> Cape<br />

Town Declaration on Responsible Tourism in Destinations. The ICRT-SA is part of a network<br />

of organizations in <strong>the</strong> UK, Gambia, South Africa <strong>and</strong> India (www.icrtourismsa.org).

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