RESPONSIBLE & SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
@VoyagesAfriq
Tourism enterprises commit to sustainable and inclusive tourism practice at 5th STAS Confab The 5th sustainable Tourism Africa summit (STAS) has been held in Kenya’s coastal region of Mombasa. The conference which brought over 130 delegates representing 11 nations from Africa and Europe was held under the theme ‘’ “Redesigning the practice, product and business for sustainable and inclusive tourism growth in Africa”. The Sustainable Tourism Africa Summit (formerly the Green Tourism Summit Africa) is an annual 3-day program that connects people, businesses, policy makers, academia to ideas, trends and innovations in sustainable tourism, in a bid to model a sustainable future for Africa’s tourism. The Summit therefore, focuses on sharing of knowledge and ideas, networking and showcasing of tools, approaches and models for transforming tourism products, services, policies, and practices towards being truly sustainable. Major Conversations at the summit highlighted the following: •
The need to rethink tourism
measurement to capture social and environmental impacts beyond arrivals, revenue and jobs created to measuring net impact of tourism by taking into account the invisible or often ignored impacts of tourism. •
Support destination development by tourism cannot happen if leakages of revenue in the supply chain is not addressed.
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That sustainable and inclusive growth in tourism will only happen if SMEs are effectively integrated into the supply chain
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That decent work involves providing equitable opportunities for all in tourism
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Every destination has perfect guest.
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Intra Africa travel is key for achieving sustainable and inclusive tourism growth in Africa. African countries must invest in products that appeal to the African traveler as part of promoting intra-Africa travel.
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Without sustainability focus on quality certification standards and competitiveness is an illusion
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Tourism for sustainable development will work best through coopetition and cooperation among stakeholders who work with each other or compete with each other
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All plastics and other products and services that harm the environment can be easily replaced without compromising on quality of service and experience.
Way Forward - #STAS19legacy Organizations made commitments to support each other in redesigning of their products, practices and business to be more sustainable. These commitments will be followed, documents and reported by STTA Kenya as achievements and case studies for reference in future discussions. A special platform for support has been opened to receive and monitor. Summits dates for #stas20 are 13-15th May 2020.
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