A fair slice of the pie

When examining the Fair Trade movement it is important first to understand the concept of social consciousness.

Becoming socially conscious does not require a paradigm shift in lifestyle — joining a commune, dressing strangely, hugging trees or lying down in front of bulldozers. What it does require is lateral thinking and that you ask a few earnest questions about the products you buy, and, in the case of Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa (FTTSA), the places you go to on holiday.

Since its inception nearly 50 years ago, the global Fair Trade movement has found that socially conscious consumers are prepared to pay a surplus for the assurance that small-scale, predominantly poor producers in developing countries have received a fair share of the money earned from the sale of their products.

Social consciousness, then, could start by asking the simple question: “Who benefits?”

The bananas in the local supermarket came from somewhere. Who benefits from your purchase of them? Do the people who harvested them get their fair share of the profits? Or are they being exploited?

All these questions led to social consciousness and the international Fair Trade Movement, which has harnessed the energy of the socially conscious and turned it into a powerful force for good the world over.

It’s a movement that has been fuelled by public awareness about issues such as trade and wealth imbalances and the often negative consequences of “free trade” that puts profits before people.

Over the years consumer demand for “fair” alternatives to conventional, often multinational, brands of cosmetics, coffee, chocolate, fruit juices and other agricultural products has increased dramatically, championed by companies such as the Body Shop and its founder Anita Roddick.

So while the movement may have begun on the fringe, Fair Trade has developed into a strong, demand-driven niche market, which makes millions each year from hundreds of ethical products on offer to European consumers. And all the while helping to curb the inequities that disadvantage developing countries, while lining the pockets of the industrialised north.

In the mid-1990s a number of European-based organisations began to explore whether tourism could also be more fairly traded.

Internationally, a lot of emphasis has been placed on the development of “community tourism” and “responsible tourism” products in developing countries, where there is untapped potential. But in spite of this the disadvantaged communities and other local destination stakeholders are still far from getting a fair slice of the tourism pie. Exploitation is rife in the global tourism market and not enough consideration is given to environmental, cultural and human rights issues.

Towards the end of the 1990s, Tourism Concern, a London-based advocacy organisation, initiated a network called Fair Trade in Tourism (FTT). This network mobilised more than 200 members from Britain, Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America, including NGOs, research institutions, community tourism initiatives and industry forums.

FTT has been identified as the key to sustainability in tourism — basically, if it isn’t fair, it isn’t sustainable. But most of FTT’s work is research-based, with advocacy and information-sharing making up its core activities.

Enter a pilot project called the Fair Trade in Tourism Initiative. Launched in 1999 as a local initiative of the world conservation union, IUCN, this project set out to test the relevance of the FTT concept in South Africa and to investigate the feasibility of establishing a trademark for FTT in South African tourism.

In January 2001 the initiative changed its name and became FTTSA, with the aim of establishing, awarding and monitoring a trademark.

This trademark was to be founded on the six FTTSA principles, with the underpinning of a selection and monitoring process that would measure the level of fairness in a particular tourism product.

FTTSA had to develop assessment and monitoring procedures as well as a schedule of costs and benefits to prospective trademark users. That this was the first FTT trademark or label in the world made the task all the more challenging.

The trademark was officially launched in Pretoria in June 2002 and the first assessments were conducted a year later. Since the end of last year, seven tourism products have qualified, namely: Shiluvari Lakeside Lodge in Limpopo; Stormsriver Adventures in the Eastern Cape; Spier Leisure in the Western Cape; Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve in Mpumalanga; Calabash Lodge and Tours in the Eastern Cape; Masakala Traditional Guest House in KwaZulu-Natal; and Klippe River Country House in the Western Cape.

The FTTSA trademark stands for fairness in tourism business, so each trademark user has been assessed and approved for its policy and practice with regard to wages and working conditions, operations, purchasing, distribution of benefits, ethical business practices and respect for human rights, culture and environment.

The trademark is much more than an “eco” label and a conventional quality assurance tool. It’s an indication that the business is committed to fair trade in tourism principles and able to demonstrate its compliance with FTTSA criteria.

In South Africa the fair trade in tourism movement has been instrumental in breaking new ground in encouraging socially conscious tourism businesses, supporting the government’s 1996 White Paper on the Development and Promotion of Tourism in South Africa and leading the way forward in the transformation of the country’s international and domestic tourism industry.

Heading up the organisation is national coordinator Jennifer Seif. American-born Seif has a strong academic background with degrees in development economics from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, African history from Boston University and social anthropology from the University of Chicago.

She first came to South Africa as a volunteer, working as a teacher at Montebello High School in KwaZulu-Natal. This instilled in her a passion for education and development and a personal commitment to transformation in South Africa.

Seif is pleased with the growth of FTTSA, but is keen to get the message of Fair Trade across in South Africa’s domestic tourism marketplace.

To this end, a survey was conducted earlier this year to assess the FTTSA brand awareness among the South African travel industry.

“A quarter of the respondents to the survey recognised the trademark,” says Seif, adding that 70% of the people surveyed had seen the trademark and knew what it stood for.

But encouraging as this may seem, Seif points out that a commitment to the Fair Trade movement is not something to be considered lightly. “Fair Trade in Tourism is a way of life, a state of mind. It’s not just about making good business sense, it’s about a long-term vision for the sustainable development of an industry, and with it the upliftment of the people who work in that industry.

“For South Africans it’s about developing a social conscience, and about asking questions. That’s the first important step to change for the better. The more we ask the right questions, the quicker the right answers will come.”

Solid principles

The six Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa principles are: