Tuesday, 10 October 2006

Hello Friends and Partners,

Welcome to the October edition of FTTSA’s Newsflash. In this issue we bring you news about winning the Ethical Travel Award, a recent workshop held for FTTSA-certified establishments, a diplomatic club evening hosted by FTTSA and highlights of our activities in the Eastern Cape. October marks the last quarter of the year and reminds us that it is just two months to the end of 2006.

Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa (FTTSA)  Wins Inaugural Ethical Travel Award

FTTSA has won the 2006 UK-based Guardian, Observer and Guardian Unlimited Travel Awards in the Ethical Travel Award category. The awards, now in their 20th year, are celebrated at a different destination every year, and this year Cape Town was selected to do the honours. As the inaugural winner of the Ethical Travel Award, FTTSA’s Executive Director, Jennifer Seif was quoted as saying. ”We are proud to be recognised as pioneers in the category of ethical travel and to be acknowledged as a global leader in communicating responsible tourism principles and practises.” The judges of the awards decided on FTTSA especially because it marks the first attempt worldwide to introduce the concept of Fair Trade labelling to the tourism industry.  The awards ceremony took place on Saturday 7 October 2006, at a gala evening held at the Cape Castle. For more info on the awards visit

http://travel.guardian.co.uk/reports/story/0,,1890550,00.html

Fair Trade In Tourism South Africa Holds Client Workshop

FTTSA held a workshop in Johannesburg on 20 September 2006, to bring together the FTTSA network of certified establishments. Discussions focused on utilizing the FTTSA brand effectively, working together and using training programmes offered through FTTSA. To create a holistic view of Fair Trade, guest speaker Sandra Kruger from Fair Trade South Africa (FTSA) gave an overview of Fair Trade in agricultural products, allowing FTTSA-certified establishments to recognise their connection to the global movement. FTTSA’s Executive Director Jennifer Seif awarded certificates to product owners acknowledging their excellence in various aspects of responsible tourism.

Green Rhino Diplomatic Travel Club Evening is Hosted by FTTSA

FTTSA in conjunction with Green Rhino Diplomatic Travel Club hosted a ‘Fair Trade’ evening at the Canadian High Commission in Pretoria. Green Rhino is a local tour operator specialising in travel packages for foreign diplomats residing in South Africa.  The evening had a ‘Fair Trade’ theme and was opened by Ambassador Nozipho January-Bardill, the head of the South African Foreign Service Institute, who serves as a Non-Executive Director on the board of FTTSA. To complement the theme, Citrusdal Cellars in the Western Cape sponsored Fairtrade wine for tasting and giveaways. To cap the evening, there was a lucky draw with prizes sponsored by FTTSA-certified establishments.  

Eastern Cape Office Focuses On SMME Development

Staff from the FTTSA Eastern Cape office partnered with the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) in facilitating information sessions for small, medium and micro enterprises (SMME’s) in the Province.  The well-attended information sessions were held at Mthatha, East London and Port Elizabeth with an average attendance of 80 SMMEs. FTTSA represented the tourism industry at all 3 workshops, which highlighted ways in which FTTSA can add value to both emerging and established tourism enterprises.

FTTSA Says Good-Bye To Xolile Caga

Xolile Caga joined the FTTSA Certification Panel in 2003. She has donated many hours of time to FTTSA over more than three years, and her knowledge and insight helped many establishments to improve their operations in relation to the principles and criteria of Fair Trade in Tourism.  Xolile has taken on a new role as Corporate Social Investment (CSI) Manager for the Edcon Group, and will sadly no longer be able to offer her time to FTTSA. A new panel member will be announced soon.

New Faces

Marcos Gonçalves Colares joins FTTSA as a Research Intern and will be working with FTTSA for nine months. He is FTTSA’s first intern from another developing country and comes from Rio Grande, south of Brazil. He is a second year undergraduate student at Universidade Federal de Pelotas, majoring in Tourism. His contact is  

marcos@fairtourismsa.org.za

Events

2010 FIFA World Cup™ National Accommodation Workshop

On the 12th of October 2006, the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEAT) will host a workshop at the Sandton Convention Centre Pavillion, from 9am – 5pm. The workshop will provide essential accommodation guidelines from MATCH, the FIFA mandated company responsible for accommodation, ticketing and information technology solutions for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. MATCH will reveal their plans with respect to the contracting of accommodation during the event. For more information, visit www.southafrica.net/2010.

2006 International Ecotourism Conference

Townsville in North Queensland, Australia will be the host for this conference to be held from 30 October to 3 November, 2006. The event will bring together ecotourism experts, operators and others with a keen interest in sustainable tourism worldwide. For more information regarding the conference visit, www.ecotourism.org.au or www.soe-townsville.org/ecotourism.

Connecting the Agendas: Sustainable Development of Tourism          

The conference aims at exchanging information on successes and failures of sustainable development of tourism on regional/national level, on European Union level and globally, and on better understanding possible synergies between research activities, policy actions and societal initiatives. The conference dates are from 2 to 3 November 2006, and the event will take place in Amsterdam, Netherlands. For more information visit http://www.rmno.nl (contact name: Bettie S. Groen).

UNISA Seminar on Sustainable Tourism

The Unisa Centre for Corporate Citizenship, in partnership with Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa (FTTSA) is offering a two-day seminar on Sustainable Tourism. The seminar is aimed at local government stakeholders; tour operators; hotel groups; marketers; managers of hospitality establishments and any other interested parties. The overall objective of the seminar is to improve the industry’s understanding of the economic, social and environmental impacts of tourism, and the ways in which these can be optimised for destinations and communities. The next seminar will be in Midrand, Johannesburg from 28 to 29 November, 2006. For further information or to register, please contact Paulina Mokazi at mokazpe@unisa.ac.za or 012 429 8918. Alternatively, contact Tatia Currie at tatia@fairtourismsa.org.za or 012 342 8307/8.

Sustainable Tourism Workshop

FTTSA is offering a formal 2-day workshop on sustainable tourism for adult learners working in the industry and/or living in communities affected by tourism. FTTSA has trained a pool of professional trainers from throughout South Africa to facilitate this workshop, which is offered nationally at a cost of R6000 (excl. vat) plus trainer’s travel costs. To register or for more information, contact either Masa Damane, masa@fairtourismsa.org.za or Sharon Schindler,    sharon@fairtourismsa.org.za.  They can also be contacted on telephone numbers 043 701 9625 or 043 701 9642.

Resources

Internet-Based Community-Based Tourism Directory

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the Regional Tourism Organization for Southern Africa (RETOSA), and The Netherlands’ Development Organisation SNV, have launched a new initiative to assist  community-based tourism enterprises (CBTE’s) from throughout SADC to improve their access to markets. This initiative included the development of database and training CBTE’S. To collaborate on the database development, please email unwto.retosa@gmail.com.

2007 Tourism For Tomorrow Awards Open

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has issued a call for entries for the 2007 Tourism for Tomorrow Awards. The Awards, now in their third year under WTTC stewardship, promote and reward best practice in Travel & Tourism all over the world. The deadline for entries is 11 December 2006 and the winners will be announced at a special ceremony during the 7th Global Travel & Tourism Summit in Lisbon from 10 to 12 May 2007. To find out more visit  www.tourismfortomorrow.com or email info@tourismfortomorrow.com

DID YOU KNOW...?

·   Many South Africans are now flying for first time - the domestic airline market could achieve growth of between 9 - 11 percent in the years to 2010 and beyond, with fares comparable with surface transport. Social improvement, with reduced poverty and unemployment, will open the domestic airline market to many new travellers. Visit http://www.fedhasa.co.za/newsletter/newsletter_article.asp?id=1290

·   South Africa’s overseas arrivals for the first quarter of 2006 increased by 4.28%, with total arrivals increasing by 13.27%. Most of the growth came from the Africa and Middle East region, which grew by 21.9%. Growth out of Southern Africa exploded with Mozambique numbers increasing 50.84%, Zimbabwe 21.65% and Lesotho 17.89. Visitor numbers travelling to South Africa for business also increased by 20.24%. Visit http://www.travelinfo.co.za/defaulttnn.asp?userid=42292&newsid=29173