Simply put, responsible tourism is tourism 'that creates better places for people to live in, and better places to visit'.
2015 marks the 5th year for Responsible Tourism Week in Cape Town, taking place from 9-15 February 2015 - an annual week of focused attention that brings together tourism businesses, learners and communities in Cape Town to spread awareness of sustainable practices and ethical methods within the tourism sector.
It all began in 2002, when Cape Town hosted the first International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations, an event alongside the World Summit on Sustainable Development. Since then, the Mother City's journey continued when responsible tourism was included as a founding principle of Cape Town's Tourism Development Framework.
It was in 2008 that the City of Cape Town and the major tourism trade associations, namely FEDHASA, SATSA, SAACI, and Cape Town Tourism, gathered to deliberate a more durable tourism future for Cape Town. They chose water and energy efficiency, waste management, skills development, preferential procurement, social development and enterprise development as crucial for destination sustainability.
Together, these partners created the Responsible Tourism Policy and Action Plan, adopted by the City of Cape Town Council in 2009. Also in 2009, on World Responsible Tourism Day, the five collaborators signed the Cape Town Responsible Tourism Charter, sealing a destination partnership and commitment to the seven destination priorities.
The priorities are:
For more about Responsible Tourism Cape Town, go to responsiblecapetown.co.za
