South Africa House Conference on Responsible Tourism
There are a few remaining places for the South Africa House Conference on Responsible Tourism taking place on 21 June. To attend please email Hugh Felton at hfelton@abta.co.uk otherwise you can just take a look to what is going on.
TOURISM – TAKING RESPONSIBILITY, A PROGRESS UPDATE AND A LOOK TO THE FUTURE
South Africa adopted a Responsible Tourism approach in its 1996 White Paper on the Development & Promotion of Tourism. This marked a step change in the way in which tourism is understood, focussing on what tourism could contribute to the new South Africa. Its international leadership was recognised in the 2002 Cape Town Declaration on Responsible Tourism in Destinations which has been very influential over the last ten years in encouraging stakeholders around the world to take responsibility for making tourism more sustainable and using tourism to make “better places for people to live in, better places for people to visit”, in that order.
At this landmark one day conference, speakers will reflect on progress since 2002 and declare their priorities for Responsible Tourism over the next 10 years. There will be a legacy website with all the presentations and outcomes of the conference and a special edition of Progress in Responsible Tourism published in July.
PLENARY SESSION 1: SETTING THE SCENE
Chair:
10:00 – 10:05 Opening Welcome
10:05 – 10:20 South Africa: Ten years on from the Cape Town Declaration
10:20 – 10:35 How much progress has been made in the last ten years?
Harold Goodwin, ICRETH, Leeds Metropolitan University & ICRT
10:35– 10:50 Key Note Taking Responsibility for Sustainability – the UK outbound industry
perspective
PLENARY SESSION 2: WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY IS SUSTAINABLE TOURISM?
This session will address the question of responsibility in the tourism context and investigate who should take responsibility for sustainable tourism. Panellists will present for 7 minutes on how responsibility for sustainability affects their decisions and operations from a specific perspective – see bracketed information below).
10:50 – 11:30 Panel Discussion on Destinations – who’s responsibility is sustainable tourism
Chair:
Panellists:
Andy Cooper, Director of Government & External Affairs, Thomas Cook Group
Carmen Steinert, Minister of Tourism, Lanzarote & Mr. Hector Fernandez, CEO, Lanzarote Tourist Board
11:30 – 11:45 Q&A Session
11:45 – 12:10 COFFEE BREAK & NETWORKING
PLENARY SESSION 3: THE POWER OF STAKEHOLDER COLLABORATION – NOTES FROM THE FIELD
This session will build on the previous discussion and profile the power of stakeholder collaboration in efforts to make tourism more sustainable. Panellists will be asked to present for 7 minutes on how stakeholder collaboration has led to proven results in tackling destination challenges and in making tourism more sustainable. The focus should be on demonstrating who the stakeholders to tourism are, how stakeholder engagement and collaboration was achieved and what were the impacts of this. Panellists should avoid simply profiling projects or initiatives.
12:20 – 12:50 Panel Discussion – experience from the field
Chair:
Panellists: Heidi van der Watt, Director, ICRT, South Africa
12:50 – 13:10 Q&A Session
13:10 – 14:00 LUNCH
Plenary Session 4: TOUR OPERATOR PROGRESS AGAINST THE CHALLENGES
This session will profile the progress the outbound industry has made and how it has contributed to making tourism more sustainable. Panellists will be asked to present for 7 minutes on how they have made progress against some of the key challenges tourism faces in light of the critical issues that Rio+20 is planning to highlight: these are Jobs, Energy, Food, Cities, Oceans, Water & Disasters. The Key Note will elaborate on the linkages between these and tourism.
14:00 – 14:15 Key Note: Rio+20 – Two Key Themes and 7 Critical Challenges – what this means for tourism.
TBC – Malcolm Preston, Global Head of Sustainability Services, PWC (Video Recorded ahead of conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil)
14:15 – 15:00 Panel Discussion – the outbound industry’s contribution
Chair:
Panellists:
Matthias Leisenger, Head of Corporate Responsibility, Kuoni Group
Clara Maguire, Project Manager, Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship -Caribbean, Virgin Holidays
15:00 –15:15 Q&A Session
Plenary Session 5: THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES
15:15 – 15:25 A Report from Sao Paulo – what is being said about the international agencies and progress since Rio
Xavier Font, ICRETH Leeds Metropolitan University and ICRT
15:25-15:30 Benchmarking levels of commitment: an overview progress in selected countries Hermione Nevil, IFC
15:30 – 15:45 COFFEE BREAK & NETWORKING
Plenary Session 6: WHERE WILL WE BE 10 YEARS FROM NOW?
This session will focus on the challenges tourism has faced over the last 10 years, the progress it has made and then look ahead to the next 10 years. A fundamental output of this session will focus on looking ahead to the future and the effects that global issues will likely have on the way we do business in years to come.
15:45-15:55 Key Note: Making the Case for Responsible Tourism in the International Market Place Fiona Jeffery, Chair, World Travel Market
15:55– 16:00 What are the priorities for the next 10 years?
16:00 – 16:15 Key Note: Doing business in a changing World
16:15– 16:25 Beyond sustainability – resilience in a finite world
16:25 – 16:40 Contributions from the Floor on Priorities for the next 10 years
16:40 – 17:00 Key Note: Tokozile Xasa, Deputy Minister, Department of Tourism: the South
African Experience of Responsible Tourism
17:00
