Sustainability in Cape Town, South Africa

Welcome to Cape Town, South Africa! 

       Cape Town Tourism is the DMO for Cape Town, South Africa; the epitome of responsible sustainability. The city, also known as the Mother City, has won numerous awards for its effective sustainability practices. In 2002, the World Summit on Sustainable Development was held in South Africa and resulted in Cape Town's Declaration on Responsible Tourism (Cape Town Tourism, 2017). In 2004, Cape Town adopted a Responsible Tourism Charter. This charter put an extra emphasis on sustainability by involving both the city and many hospitality organizations (Cape Town Tourism, 2017). Cooperation of this type is essential for creating a successful destination. “Cape Town’s efforts were rewarded when it was awarded Best Destination Category in the 2009 Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards announced at the World Travel Market in London" (South African Tourism, n.d.). Then in 2014, Cape Town "was awarded Best Destination for Responsible Tourism and Hotel Verde, one of the greenest hotels in Africa, won Best City Hotel in the world." (Cape Town Tourism, 2017). It is apparent that Cape Town takes sustainability seriously because there are many green practices in place. 

     

Sustainability  

☀Two of the best practices of Cape Town are its energy conservation and ecotourism activities. Energy conservation is important to this area due to its high demand, resulting in frequent blackouts in 2007 and 2008 (Brand South Africa, 2008). With these periods of hours without power, the economy sank because work could not be done. Therefore, Cape Town turned to wind power and then added solar panels in the city center (Brand South Africa, 2008). Due to these efforts, Cape Town’s economy is doing much better.

 Ecotourism is something that all tourists are encouraged to be a part of when visiting Cape Town. “The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) defines ecotourism as ‘responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people’.” (Morrison, 2013, p. 485).                                                                               Photo courtesy of https://clipartfest.com

Cape Town has many opportunities for tourists to participate in ecotourism while they visit. Some options include: tree-planting, sponsoring a penguin, and buying local art (Cape Town Tourism, 2017). Cape Town’s DMO’s website even has a webpage labeled ‘How to be a responsible tourist’. This page gives the following examples for tourists to consider: be mindful of animals, do a little reading to learn about the local culture, respect the environment, be water wise to conserve water, take public transportation to reduce pollution, don’t give money to beggars because charities will make sure donations are going toward a good cause and poverty is something that the destination is currently fighting, do research on Voluntourism because Cape Town has many organizations to participate in, ask before taking people’s pictures, support local artists, dine responsibly, be careful what you buy and be mindful not to buy products made of endangered plants or animals (Cape Town Tourism, 2017).                                                               

These practices work because they are simple to execute. Although conservation efforts may take time, once they are in place, nature does the work. Wind and solar efforts provide the city with additional energy, and thus saves money. Natural energy is free energy. Cape Town no longer has to worry about rolling blackouts leading to an economic downturn. These energy conservation efforts, although simple, are very effective because of the mass amounts of energy they are able to produce with very little effort from humans.

Ecotourism is effective because of the mass amounts of people that are able to contribute. In 2010, the FIFA World Cup was held in South Africa. Many studies show that the mega event greatly boosted the amount of tourism in South Africa (FIFA, 2010). Cape Town now has enough tourists coming to the area that all the city has to do is encourage ecotourism.

In this video you can see the mass amounts of people preparing for the game and the energetic influence it had on locals.

One way that the city promotes ecotourism is through the use of information and communication technologies or ICTs (Morrison, 2013). ICTs are defined as “communication devices or applications, as well as their associated services and applications” (Morrison, 2013, p.369). It is no secret that technology is booming all over the world and more and more people are using cell phones and the internet. In fact, approximately 40% of the world population has an internet connection, totaling around 3.6 billion people (Internet Live Stats , n.d.). Therefore, reaching out to the masses is easier than ever before. Cape Town Tourism’s ‘How to be a responsible tourist’ page is a very smart sustainability strategy. Other social media sites that Cape Town utilizes are: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and an official app.  

If you want to find out more about current Internet facts, visit: Internet Live Stats

Benefits of Sustainability 

These practices have positive effects on both consumers and the destination and its locals. Morrison (2011, p. 485) states that TIES suggests that there are six principles that ecotourism follows:

1.      Minimize impact
2.      Build environmental and cultural awareness and respects
3.      Provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts
4.      Provide direct financial benefits for conservation
5.      Provide financial benefits and empowerment for local people
6.      Raise sensitivity to host countries’ political, environmental, and social climate

All these principles are visible in Cape Town. Ecotourism is more beneficial for the destination than consumers, however, there are some benefits for consumers. The following section explains how ecotourism is beneficial for consumers.

The practices of energy conservation is beneficial for consumers because the city is able to function all throughout the day with no blackouts. Therefore, consumers can explore without worry. These conservation efforts also make the local people happy, which benefits the consumers because the people of a destination need to be welcoming and happy in order for outsiders to enjoy their visit.

Currently, “Nature-based tourism (including ecotourism) accounts for 20 per cent – 40 per cent of international tourists” (Morrison, 2013, p. 486). Therefore, any place that offers a natural and eco-friendly environment will make visitors feel fulfilled, satisfied, and gratified. These green travelers want to contribute to the world, which is why they choose destinations with good sustainability practices, such as Cape Town.

Here is how the six principles of ecotourism effect both consumers and Cape Town:

Provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts

Traveling trends are always changing because people’s psychographics and lifestyles are always changing. One trend that is currently growing is green travel (Morrison, 2013). People want to be environmentally friendly when they travel and they want to get in touch with nature. Business travelers are even beginning to conduct ‘green meetings’ which consists of only a few members physically at the destination, while the rest are connected via ICTs (Morrison, 2013). These meetings get the job done while putting less pressure on the destination and giving the destination free publicity. The benefit for consumers is that not everyone has to be at the destination to attend the meeting.                                                 

   Ecotourism provides fulfillment and satisfaction to consumers. As for the destination, ecotourism has helped increase tourism in the area and create awareness of the area’s sustainability efforts and beauty. More people are choosing to visit Cape town simply because of the conservation efforts and green activities.

Minimize Impact 

     When tourism started to boost in 2010 due to the FIFA World Cup, South Africa saw a boost in tourism. More and more people came from around the world to visit Cape Town. When destinations see a spike in tourism, having many people visit the destination could be treacherous. An example of such hardship would be the eroding stairs of The Great Wall of China and of The Leaning Tower of Pisa.

By working with local stakeholders on sustainability, the city was able to minimize the negative impacts of tourism in the area. The DMO focused on getting tourists involved in ecotourism so that their presence would be a blessing, not a burden.

Photos courtesy of internationalsarah.wordpress.com and theculturemap.com                                                                                      

Build environmental and cultural awareness

     As for the environment, ecotourism has been nothing but effective. The destination’s vast beauty has become recognized around the world. One of the most notable sites is Table Mountain. 

Photo courtesy of http://hiketablemountain.co.za

Cape Town Tourism has many videos on their YouTube channel that help promote tourism. The following video is an advertisement for a sweepstakes drawing they held in 2012, featuring Table Mountain.

Having an effective ICT presence that promotes sustainability causes more tourists to be drawn to the area and travelers are persuaded to help sustain the natural environment.

Provide direct financial benefits for conservation                                                    Ecotourism in Cape Town consists of more than just people donating their time or money. There are many attractions that people pay for where the profits go toward sustainability. One example is the cable car at Table Mountain. People pay to ride in the cable car to see the extraordinary views and the money goes toward taking care of the mountain (Cape Town Tourism, 2017).

Provide financial benefits and empowerment for local people                                   The hospitality industry in Cape Town provides 1/12 jobs for local people. For the destination and its tourists, energy conservation and ecotourism are what saved their economy. Without rolling blackouts, the local businesses are able to get their work done efficiently. As for ecotourism, the DMO’s website encourages tourists and even local hospitality organizations to buy from local vendors. Therefore, locals benefit directly from tourism and are directly involved with it.

The following video shows the emphasis that Cape Town Tourism places on locals.

                Raise sensitivity to host countries’ political, environmental, and social climate

The FIFA World Cup was a turning point for tourism in South Africa. After the game, all of South Africa saw a boost in tourism which has led to the development of more ecotourism. This tourism increase has increased the awareness of Cape Town as a beautiful destination. The game also would not have been possible if the South African Government hadn't been involved. Therefore, tourists saw that the South African Government wanted to do something that would have a positive effect on the region. 

Cape Town should continue to make their story known so that other destinations can follow the same eco-friendly practices. Cape Town has already won many awards for their sustainability practices at the world level and has become a great role model. They also encourage local hospitality organizations to practice sustainability. As Cape Town advertises their practices, they should encourage other DMOs to persuade their local hospitality industry to implement sustainability practices, as well. If more destinations were to encourage and practice sustainability, then we would be able to sustain the entire world’s beauty instead of sporadic destinations.

 Governance  

The two DMOs that sponsor Cape Town are SouthAfrican Tourism, which is government run and Cape Town Tourism,which is an independent agency. Both DMOs encourage sustainability practices. Because Cape Town has been part of so many international sustainability groups, such as the World Travel Market and the World Summit on Sustainable Development, I believe that national government run agencies should be in charge of encouraging more sustainable practices by DMOs. The reason for this is because Cape Town Tourism would have had a difficult time participating in the international groups by itself. National government DMOs are more capable of communicating with these groups and creating and planning large events, such as the FIFA World Cup. As Morrison (2013, p.200) states: “DMOs often see the benefits in working closely with government agencies, whether or not they themselves are governmental agencies.” Without the help of the national DMO, who knows if tourism would have increased in Cape Town?             
      Once a region has begun sustainability practices, I believe that it is then up to the local DMOs to ensure that the area is following the practices put in place. In other words; the government DMO is the textbook, the local DMOs are the teachers, and residents, hospitality organizations, and tourists are the students.  

If I oversaw Cape Town Tourism, I would increase its social media presence. Social media is booming and is an easy way to reach the masses. Cape Town Tourism has a few social media sites, but I would make them more active and join a few more. This way, sustainability practices could be known by even more people around the world.                                                         Also, I would ensure that the organization continues to maintain a good relationship with stakeholders because they “can affect or be affected by the outcomes of destination management” (Morrison, 2013, p. 222). As stated by Wang (2011, p.11): "CVB attempts to help make collaborative destination problem solving efforts among non-profit, government, business and other organizations possible and effective." Otherwise, Cape Town already has many effective policies and connections in place that encourage sustainability throughout the city.                                             

As a consumer visiting destinations, I always make it a point to buy locally. I seek out local art festivals where people are selling their little creations. Supporting local people is an important part of sustainability because it makes them happy. When tourists make locals happy, they are more inclined to provide excellent service and work with the local DMO. 

It is obvious that sustainability is a very important part of tourism. It has done nothing but bring good changes to the city of Cape Town, South Africa. The Mother City has clearly found a way to bring tourism and sustainability together in ways that benefit both the residents and tourists. When managing a destination, it is important to think about what your destination needs and how you can get it there. 

References                                                                                                 

Brand South Africa. (2008, September 15). Cape Town: a sustainable city . Retrieved from Brand South Africa : https://www.brandsouthafrica.com/tourism-south-africa/glocal-sustainability-centre-140908

Cape Town Tourism . (2017). Cape Town as a Sustainable Destination . Retrieved from Cape Town Tourism: http://www.capetown.travel/trade-media/story-ideas/sustainable-cape-town

FIFA. (2010, December 7). Study reveals tourism impact in South Africa. Retrieved from FIFA World Cup : https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y=2010/m=12/news=study-reveals-tourism-impact-south-africa-1347377.html

Internet Live Stats . (n.d.). Internet Users . Retrieved from Internet Live Stats: http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users/

Morrison, A. M. (2013). Marketing and Managing Tourism Destinations. New York : Routledge .

South African Tourism . (n.d.). Responsible Tourism Cape Town . Retrieved from South African Tourism : http://www.southafrica.net/za/en/articles/entry/article-southafrica.net-responsible-tourism-cape-town

Wang, Y. (2011). Destination Marketing and Management: Scope, Definition and Structures . Destination Marketing and Management-Theories and Applications .