FAIR TRADE COMMUNITY TOURISM
Tourism can be a double-edged sword. It can bring tremendous benefit in different ways to communities – or it can lead to destruction of the very asset it was built around, to the detriment of communities. Drakensberg Adventures since its inception has always worked hard to try and ensure that the tours we set up are beneficial to communities. We have seen those providing services to the tours as partners, and have endeavored to treat them accordingly. We have gone about this firstly by educating people about tourism to enable them to see tourists as people rather than a source of funds! In setting up our various tours, we have been careful to ensure that the product is in harmony with the community and that as many people as possible see benefits from our tours. We also try to not set unrealistic expectations, so that the tours can be sustainable and the communities will feel that tourism is delivering benefits to them. These benefits are in terms of payments for services rendered and recognition of the importance of cultural practices. By going on one of our tours, you are not only getting a unique and unforgettable experience, you are also helping bring positive benefits (both financial and morale boosting) to local communities through tourism! Up to March 2020 over R6 million has flowed directly into the eastern highlands of Lesotho through our tours!
FAIR TRADE TOURISM IN ACTION
PRINCIPLES OF FAIR TRADE TOURISM
 Your Lesotho tour price includes a contribution towards either the Basotho Shepherds’ Fund, the Basotho Shearers’ Fund or the Bobatsi School Fund. The rock art walk tour price includes a contribution towards Khomani Bushmen Education Fund in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.
Our ground-breaking approach to grass-roots tourism means that your tour price directly benefits a wide segment of the local community, preserving cultural dignity and ensuring fair remuneration for goods and services rendered.
Both Sani Lodge & Cottages, and our tour company Drakensberg Adventures, have been accredited by Fair Trade Tourism South Africa – a member of Global Sustainable Tourism Council – since 2011, demonstrating our commitment to the six principles of Fair Trade Tourism that encompass hundreds of criteria for compliance ranging from:
Skills Development – upskilling and internal promotion to,
Procurement – support local goods and services,
Community Investment – of schools and remote communities in Lesotho empowered by a respectful engagement between tourists and independent stakeholders who are remunerated fairly for goods and services rendered; of communities in KZN via staff directly employed and local schools supported; of the Khomani Bushmen crafts and Education Fund in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park,
Environmental Management and Conservation – indigenous gardens, solar power, waste separation and recycling at the Lodge,
Cultural Sensitivity – of people encountered on tours, guests and staff,
Human Resources Practice – previously unemployed women trained and upskilled to become empowered to be householder providers,
Health and Safety – on the job training,
Quality and Reliability – on the job training of staff and tour guides,
Legal and General – policies governing Business Ethics and Practices, and
Workplace Culture – happy staff = happy guests.
Guests choosing to stay at Sani Lodge directly support all these Responsible Tourism Principles in action.
Fair Share Fair Say Respect Reliability Transparency Sustainability,
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Fair Trade Tourism Certified since 2011
Sani Lodge’s tour company Drakensberg Adventures, has been certified with Fair Trade Tourism as a responsible tour company for more than a decade, gaining recognition by awards and accolades from:Â
- African Responsible Tourism Awards for ‘Sustainable Poverty Reduction’ in deep rural communities of the Basotho people in Lesotho, the Zulu people in KwaZulu Natal, and the Bushmen in Kgalagadi.
- Lesotho Tourism Development for ‘Best Practice’.
- South African Tourism – which selected Sani Lodge with its tour company DA, as one of five businesses in the entire country of South Africa, for its sustainable practice of Responsible Tourism. A film was made to showcase DA in action to the tourism sector in the Netherlands.
When you tour with DA, you are making a significant difference to the lives of people living in impoverished, deeply rural areas, where they are offering services to you in the form of accommodation, food, a pony or a mountain guide.
This is exactly what Sustainable and Responsible Tourism is: an interface of engagement between the tourist and the service provider that is facilitated with both respect for people and their environment; and where the service providers are directly remunerated for their role as independent stakeholders.Â
