Four of South Africa’s top tourism companies were at the forefront of a Pro-Poor Tourism (PPT) pilot project that aimed to increase the benefits of the industry to include poverty reduction and skills development.
The project, which was established in May 2002, hoped to improve links between poor people and the businesses that drive the industry so that local communities can contribute more effectively in development of tourism and as a result increase the net benefits they receive from it.
Sun International’s Sun City Resort in the Pilanesberg and Southern Sun’s Sandton complex in Johannesburg, Spier Leisure in Stellenbosch, Wilderness Safari’s Rocktail Bay Lodge as well as safari company Ker & Downey Tanzania have thrown their weight behind the project, but the level of success has been mixed.
On the positive side, PPT has helped the Spier wine and leisure estate in the Western Cape to develop a procurement policy that has resulted in several new enterprises springing to life. The value of the contracts given to its eight new suppliers already amounts to more than R500 000 and there are more contracts in the pipeline.
One example of an existing project is an on-site laundry that was launched in August last year. The Klein Begin Laundry has already expanded twice and has created five full-time and three part-time jobs.
Other new suppliers include a township paper-making project and work has begun on local contracts to supply organic produce, recycled soap and even chemical supplies.
Wilderness Safari’s Rocktail Bay in northern KwaZulu-Natal has benefited from PPT’s help by strengthening its existing partnership with the Mqobela community. It has also forged a new partnership with the Mpukane community in preparation for a proposed diving lodge near Rocktail.
An environmental impact assessment is in the pipeline in this respect and government approval for the lodge is pending. In the short term, however, jobs have been created by clearing an airstrip for charter flights and a community tour is being advertised as an activity for guests.
Also on the plus side is Sun City’s focus on enterprise development with PPT facilitation. Recopro, a glass-recycling enterprise, has been upgraded by updating equipment and skills. It now supplies engraved glasses to the resort and its guests. In addition, 10 Recopro members have received training in paper recycling so that they can use waste paper from Sun City offices to make greetings cards for the resort’s four hotels and shops.
Although the overall effect of the pilot projects has been positive, many good intentions have been thwarted by bureaucracy and red tape.
Southern Sun’s Sandton complex, for example, attempted to strengthen its links with community-based tourism initiatives in Alexandra, Johannesburg. But, according to PPT, a major reason things didn’t work was because the partnership between Southern Sun and the Alexandra Chamber of Commerce did not flourish.
Meanwhile, the PPT and Ker & Downey Tanzania pilot project has had mixed results. The company, which is based in many of the country’s rural areas, has been examining ways to restructure its community donations and interventions, which are currently handled through its separate charity — the Friedkin Conservation Trust. Discussions focused on developing natural resource management partnerships between Ker & Downey camp managers and neighbouring communities. But, continuing uncertainty over tenure of the natural resources has made it difficult to set up these partnerships.
The pilot projects fall under the auspices of the United Kingdom’s Overseas Development Institute and are run by the Pretoria-based Mboza Tourism with an advisory panel that includes the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA), the South African Chamber of Business, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, South African Tourism as well as Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa.
“This programme has shown that tourism companies can do business differently, benefiting both themselves and the local economy,” said Adriene Harris of the TBCSA.