This document discusses current trends in sustainable tourism certification and opportunities for Africa. It provides an overview of Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa (FTTSA), including its mission and activities. FTTSA aims to create an integrated regional fair trade tourism system in southern Africa through cooperation with organizations in neighboring countries. The goal is to attract fair trade tourism arrivals to the region from key markets and test the exportability of the system to other destinations, while securing support for tourism as a fair trade product. FTTSA is partnering with GO TO Madagascar to enable its members to participate in fair trade value chains and launch the first fair trade holidays in Madagascar at the Indaba tourism trade show in 2013.

1. Current trends in sustainable
tourism certification and
opportunities for Africa
Presentation by Jennifer Seif, Executive Director:
Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa (FTTSA)
International Tourism Fair Madagascar
2 June 2012
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2. FTTSA Snapshot
• South Africa’s leading responsible tourism NGO
• Established in 2001 as a project of IUCN-South Africa
• Independent non profit company since 2004
• Main activities:
– Awareness raising, advocacy, research
– Capacity building
– Owner and operator of tourism Fair Trade standard and
voluntary certification programmme
• 8 permanent staff + interns/volunteers
• Supported by international, national and multi-lateral donors
• Well networked in South Africa, in Africa and internationally
• Winner of numerous awards and accolades
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3. Sustainable Consumption
and Production
• Reduce environmental
Wide range of sustainability
footprint of goods & services
standards and labels across
• Product life cycle
sectors:
• Supply chain management –
• Organic
sustainable sourcing
• Fair labour standards • Forestry products
• Human rights • Seafood - SASSI
• CSD (1992), WSSD, Rio+20 • Green building
• Fairtrade
• etc
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4. What can tourism learn from Fairtrade?
International
standards for
coffee, tea,
cocoa, sugar,
wine. . .
Worldwide trading partnership Recognition of Fairtrade mark
•24 member organisations (FLO)
90% in UK, 85% in Netherlands
•50 markets
•827 producer organisations 72% in Germany, 87% in Switzerland
•62 countries in the Global South in USA and 60% in Canada. . .
63%
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5. Tourism – a Fairtrade problem
• Structural inequalities – North/South, rich/poor, men/women
• Weak labour standards
• Value chains can be long (and complex)
• High resource consumption
• Human rights challenges
– Treatment of workers and communities
– Competition over land, water and other natural resources
– Child labour
– Commercial sexual exploitation
• Economic leakage can be high (up to 75c on the Euro)
• Green/eco on the rise, despite high social costs
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6. Fair Trade Tourism – status quo
• FTT part of the Sustainable Tourism lexicon (eco tourism, pro-poor
tourism, responsible tourism.
• Conceptual work dates to late 1990s (Academic, led from North)
• World’s first tourism Fair Trade label – South Africa 2003 (product
certification)
• FLO-Fairtrade feasibility study 2006-2009 (mainstream + niche, lack
private sector involvement, largely theoretical)
• Pilot-test labelling of holiday packages to South Africa, 2009-2011
(led from the South, trade standard + product certification, real holidays
sold by tour operators, “premium”).
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7. ST certification supply – a
changing environment
• 144+ sustainable tourism standards/certificates
globally, all with similar objectives (to promote
sustainability practices and link products to markets)
and same problems:
– Low volumes and awareness, lack of business case
– Compete with another, no one is financially
sustainable
– Industry fatigue, consumer confusion
– Low levels of development and market impact
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8. ST certification supply – a
changing environment
• Tourism lags behind other sectors wrt professionalization
and following internationally accepted rules for what = a
credible and competent certifier (ISO65).
– Avoid mixing certification with any other activities.
– Int’l/regional/national accreditation of tourism
certificates is imminent – will separate “men from the
boys”
– Accredited schemes will cooperate, non accredited
will fall away.
– FTTSA one of 10 standards to attain GSTC
endorsement
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9. Market opportunity
Market Opportunity
• Demand for Fairtrade / Fair Trade is on the rise
• Demand for experiential travel, autheniticy on the rise
• Fairtrade mark very well known in Europe, North America,
Australia/New Zealand – starting in South Africa
• Labelling of holidays –
– Potential umbrella for sustainable tourism initiatives
– Offers private sector opportunities to differentiate
services
• Currently FTTSA can‘t meet tour operator demand to create
FTT value chains – need to scale up supply.
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10. FTTSA-led project, 2012-2016
Create an integrated regional FTT system based on cooperation
with peers in neighbouring countries (Botswana, Lesotho,
Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania)
Attract FTT arrivals to South/southern Africa (France, Germany,
Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, USA, Canada, Australia and South
Africa).
Test/evaluate exportability of system to other types of
destinations
Secure support for tourism as a Fairtrade product
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11. FTT in Madagascar
• GO TO Madagascar – industry led association (75
members)
• GO TO focus on sustainable tourism, history of
working with FTTSA
• Enable GO TO members to enter FTT value chains:
– Develop minimum criteria for GO TO members
– Support hotels, lodges, eco-adventure activities to
comply with minimum FTT criteria (certification)
– Support tour operators to develop Fair Trade
holiday packages using certified products
– Launch first holidays at Indaba 2013
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12. FTT beneficiaries & stakeholders
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