Geographic Description

South Africa is the southernmost African country. The Indian and Atlantic oceans form its southeastern and southwestern borders, respectively. It is bordered to the northwest by Namibia, to the north by Botswana, to the northeast by Mozambique and Swaziland and it completely surrounds Lesotho.

Tourism Policy Environment

South Africa has arguably the most extensive tourism policy framework in the region. Policy focuses on tourism development, promotion, responsible tourism development and the broad based economic empowerment of historically disadvantaged individuals (HDI). The following documents guide South African tourism development:

• White Paper: Development & Promotion of Tourism in South Africa, 1996
• Guidelines for Responsible Tourism Development, 2001
• Tourism Growth Strategy, 2001
• National Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act, 2001; and the
• Tourism Code (previously the Tourism Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Charter and Scorecard), 2008.

The White Paper uses the language of “responsible tourism development” to highlight the enormous potential of the tourism sector to create jobs, alleviate poverty, stimulate Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and promote the development of small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs). The Tourism White Paper also draws attention to South Africa’s rich natural and cultural diversity, and the potential of tourism to generate income and livelihoods, and alleviate poverty for rural as well as urban communities.

The Responsible Tourism Guidelines were designed during 2001, during the run-up to the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), to provide national guidance and indicators to enable the tourism sector to demonstrate progress towards the principles of responsible tourism embodied in the 1996 White Paper. The Guidelines were published by the national Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) with funding by the British Department for International Development (DFID). 

The Tourism Growth Strategy (TGS) project started in 2001 with the goal of finding ways to more effectively market South Africa as a tourist destination in the increasingly competitive global tourism market   The TGS sets out an organic vision for tourism, which continually changes to respond to new information and changing market trends (SAT, 2001; 2004).

The Tourism Code was designed to measure and monitor the extent to which black people (and especially black women) are included within the tourism sector. The Tourism Code sets measurable targets for the sector regarding ownership and control of economic assets, human resource development, affirmative action and preferential procurement. The application of the Scorecard is voluntary; however favourable Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) credentials are required for firms seeking to do business with government and will increasingly become a necessity to do business with other businesses seeking to meet their own sector specific BBBEE targets.

The aforementioned documents are supplemented by a various policy instruments including legislation regulating labour relations, working conditions and skills development.  In addition, South Africa has a number of policies on conservation and environmental management that pertain to tourism development, as well as a vast network of national, provincial and local protected areas.  Another driver of policy implementation exists in the wide range of tourism private sector voluntary initiatives on offer.

Certification / Award Programmes

Imvelo Responsible Tourism Awards

The Imvelo Responsible Tourism Awards were established in 2002 to recognise tourism and hospitality businesses that make a real, measurable and sustained contribution to responsible tourism. Awards are granted in the following categories:

• Best Social Involvement Programme
• Best Practice – Economic Impact
• Best Overall Environmental Management System
• Best Single Resource Management Programme
• Chairman’s Award (at the discretion of the FEDHASA Chairman)

The awards are open to Southern Africa.  Since 2004, six southern African tourism businesses outside of South Africa were recognised as winners or finalists.

South Africa also has a large presence of tourism certification schemes, including locally developed programmes as well as international ones.  Below is a list of the schemes on offer in South Africa with a description of each:

Blue Flag Programme

The Blue Flag is an eco-label awarded to beaches and marinas who comply with 29 criteria that fall under the following categories:

• Environmental Education and Information
• Water Quality
• Environmental Management
• Safety and Services

Worldwide 38 countries are involved in the Blue Flag Programme. South Africa is, however, the only country represented in SADC. As of December 2008, 19 South African beaches were part of the Blue Flag Programme.

International Green Leaf Environmental Standard

Initiated by the Wilderness Foundation of South Africa and launched in South Africa at Indaba 2008, the Green Leaf Environmental Standard is an International Standard that aims to:

• Address the direct impact of accommodation units on the environment
• Reduce the carbon footprint of accommodation units
• Improve the environmental education of owners and consumers alike towards realising ways of enjoying the tourism product without compromising quality and experience
• Enhance the accommodation units marketing edge through environmental audit independence and impartiality

Since Indaba, the Green Leaf Environmental Standard has expanded outside of South Africa and outside of the tourism sector, but this is only nominally the case.  In South Africa, six tourism establishments have become certified.  No other countries have certified establishments; however, assessments are occurring in Namibia, Botswana, Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania.

Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa (FTTSA)

The awarding of the FTTSA label is determined by the assessment of a tourism enterprise’s adherence to a number of social and environmental criteria. Included among these are the following principles and practices:

• Fair wages and working conditions;
• Fair operations and purchasing;
• Fair distribution of benefits;
• Ethical business practice; and
• Respect for human rights, culture and environment.

Currently, 46 tourism products are listed on the FTTSA website as having been awarded the certification.

GreenStaySA

GreenStaySA is a new certification scheme that seeks to reduce the environmental footprint of the tourism sector. GreenStaySA covers seven essential environmental themes:

• Environmental Management;
• Energy And Climate Change;
• Water;
• Waste Avoidance, Recycling And Green Procurement;
• Chemicals;
• Garden & Biodiversity; and
• Building Design and Construction.

GreenStaySA is not yet operational.  The scheme plans to begin operating in the Western Cape Province sometime in 2009, with a view to expanding nationally from 2010 onwards.

Heritage Environmental Rating Scheme

The Heritage Environmental Programme was established in 2002 and recognises and identifies environmentally responsible companies and products in southern Africa, which incorporate responsible practices into their operations. The programme is designed to recognize the following characteristics:

• The ability to run a successful and profitable tourism business (Management Systems);
• The desire to learn and educate, providing viable solutions to problems, and rewarding behaviours and suggestions that enhance the business’ overall environmental focus (Communication);
• The development of a sensitive attitude towards the environment which ensures the long-term sustainability of the business (Resource Management); and
• The desire to involve local communities in the planning, running and management of the business, whilst enhancing the benefits they receive due to applicable tourism operations (Community Involvement).

In southern Africa, over 85 hotels, lodges and resorts are listed with the scheme. The majority are in South Africa (three of these being provincial tourism authorities), with Swaziland, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia having a few each (Heritage Environmental Rating Scheme, 2008).

The proliferation of certification schemes in South Africa has prompted DEAT to provide quality assurance through the development of National Minimum Standards for Responsible Tourism (NMSRT) and a national accreditation scheme for tourism certification programmes. The NMSRT are primarily based on the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria and National Responsible Tourism Guidelines. The complementary NMSRT and national accreditation scheme aim to harmonise the different sets of criteria currently used for certifying the sustainability of tourism businesses in South Africa, with the ultimate goal that all certificates indicate compliance with the NMSRT.  The process is currently being chaired by the executive director of Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa (FTTSA) with a view to finalisation/adoption by mid-2009.

TFCAs

South Africa is party to six TFCAs, namely the /Ais-/Ais – Richtersveld (with Namibia), the Kgalagadi (with Botswana), the Limpopo-Shashe (with Botswana and Zimbabwe), the Great Limpopo (with Mozambique and Zimbabwe), the Lubombo (with Mozambique and Swaziland) and the Maloti-Drakensberg (with Lesotho).