SafariLands.org: Events: Global meet to highlight responsible tourism

Tourist groups visiting Arusha are eager to contribute to local social and economic developments

The conference, according to the organizers, is global but will include over 200 participants from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Nigeria, India, Costa Rica, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the host Tanzania. More countries may be announced later.

An email Q&A correspondence with the organizers explained the basic concept of Travelers' Philanthropy to be when tourists (either holiday tourists or business tourists) become involved philanthropically (this means donating either time or money) with the places and communities that they visit.

Because tourists often and increasingly have this desire to become more directly involved in this way, many tourism companies around the world have developed their own philanthropic projects so that tourists have an opportunity to donate to a worthy cause and a well-organized project.

The Conference Organizational Assistant, Herry Ngoitiama, said the Kenyan Nobel Laureate Professor Wangari Maathai, is going to be among the chief speakers at the conference to be held at the Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge in the Usa-River area of Meru District.

Professor Maathai serves on the boards of organizations including the UN Secretary Generals Advisory Board on Disarmament, the Jane Goodall Institute, Women and Environment Development Organization (WEDO), World Learning for International Development, Green Cross International, Environment Liaison Centre International, the Worldwide Network of Women in Environmental Work, and the National Council of Women of Kenya.

Professor Maathai was listed 6th in the Environment Agency (UK) peer review of the world's Top 100 Eco-Heroes. She was also listed on UNEP's Global 500 Hall of Fame and named one of the 100 heroines of the world. In June 1997, Prof Maathai was elected by Earth Times as one of 100 persons in the World who have made a difference in the environmental arena. In 2005, Prof Maathai was named by Time Magazine as one of 100 most influential people in the world and by Forbes Magazine as one of 100 most powerful women in the world.

The other speaker is Prof. David Western who is the chairman of the African Conservation Centre. A Kenya citizen, he was raised and educated in Tanzania, obtained a B.Sc. (Hons.) from Leicester University and a Ph.D. from the University of Nairobi.

He directed Wildlife Conservation Society programs in East Africa for many years.

He established the Wildlife Planning Unit in Kenya in 1978, was the chairman of the African Elephant and Rhino Specialist Group in the 1980s, was founding president of The International Ecotourism Society, chairman of the Wildlife Clubs of Kenya, director of Wildlife Conservation Society (International), director of Kenya Wildlife Service and founder of the African Conservation Centre in Nairobi.
He is an adjunct professor in Biology at the University of California, San Diego and the University of Minnesota.

Martha Honey who trekked shoulder to shoulder with Tanzanian soldiers during the 1978-79 war with Uganda and co-authored the highly celebrated rational account of the battle 'War in Uganda' (1982 with Tony Arvirgan) will be in town during the conference "Travelers' Philanthropy is a fairly new but rapidly growing part of the global tourism industry. The only other global conference on this subject was held in California, at Stanford University, in 2004. That conference was also organized by the Center on Ecotourism and Sustainable Development." stated Mr. Ngoitiama.

He added that the main achievements were highlighting how Travelers' Philanthropy projects have spread, what different tourism companies have learned from their efforts to get involved in development and conservation projects, what some of the key challenges are, and what strategies are most effective for designing impactful and sustainable philanthropic projects.

Arusha being the hub of Tanzania's tourism industry, and because the country is one of Africa's leading nations in terms of developing sustainable and responsible forms of tourism that contributes to economic development and, at least in some cases, to environmental conservation, was chosen to host the event.

Also, the director of the Center on Ecotourism and Sustainable Development, Dr. Martha Honey, lived in Tanzania during the 1970's, when she was a news reporter and also did her PhD at the University of Dar es Salaam (her dissertation was on the history of Zanzibar).

"So CESD has something of a personal connection to Tanzania and the reason for holding it at the end of the year in the first week of December is that this is the low season in terms of tourism and thus should afford more tourism companies a good opportunity to attend," said the organizers.

The main objective of the conference is to develop a clearer understanding of some of the successes (or 'best practices') in Travelers' Philanthropy, as well as some of the core challenges and problems that tourism companies will need to think about as more companies become involved in these projects.

The conference will provide direct seminar training (during the first day on December 3rd) in terms of how to set up Travelers' Philanthropy programs, and will also provide numerous examples of projects, not only from tourism companies but also from experts in fields of rural development, wildlife conservation, and health.

These experts will highlight key issues in these fields, describe what makes projects successful and sustainable, and also talk about how to develop effective partnerships between the tourism industry and NGO's and government.

The conference will also raise some of the key current issues in global sustainable tourism such as climate change as it relates to the tourism industry. We hope to come out of the conference with some published materials on best practices for Travelers' Philanthropy and also strengthen the regional and global network of companies which are at the forefront of sustainable tourism, which includes Travelers' Philanthropy.

Valentine Marc Nkwame is David Astor Journalism Award Winner 2008 now undergoing further training in South Africa.

Source: http://www.arushatimes.co.tz