SATSA, the Voice of Inbound Tourism, and Fair Trade Tourism (FTT), the Mark of a Good Holiday, have announced a strategic partnership to advance responsible tourism practices across South Africa.
The collaboration aims to enhance the competitiveness of South African tourism businesses by providing practical tools and guidance for implementing responsible tourism practices that meet growing international demands for sustainable travel experiences.
Rachel Nxele, Chairperson of SATSA’s Responsible Tourism Committee, said: “This collaboration marks a pivotal moment for sustainable tourism in South Africa. It equips our members with essential tools to meet evolving global market demands whilst benefiting local communities.”
According to Lisa Scriven, General Manager at Fair Trade Tourism, “The FTT framework and support tools offer tourism businesses of any size a comprehensive, step-by-step approach to align their operations with supplier demand. Equally important, it promotes tourism that contributes to better places to live, work, and visit.”
Key initiatives include:
- Endorsement of FTT’s locally developed certification programme, aligned with international sustainability standards.
- Bi-monthly educational webinars featuring industry leaders who deliver practical insights and actionable strategies for embedding responsible tourism practices into business operations.
- Structured opportunities for tourism professionals to connect, share best practices and drive collective responsible tourism efforts.
- Creation of practical, targeted tools and resources specifically designed to address the unique responsible tourism challenges and opportunities in Southern Africa.
“Fair Trade Tourism is excited to partner with SATSA, collaboratively championing responsible tourism and making a lasting impact on our industry,” Scriven concluded.
Ends
Media contact:
Kim Taylor
SATSA
Sonnette Fourie
Big Ambitions Marketing
Rachel Nxele
Fair Trade Tourism
communications@fairtradetourism.org
ABOUT SATSA
SATSA is the unified voice of the inbound tourism industry in Southern Africa and represents the private sector trade associations in five SADC countries. Our mission is to support the sustainable growth of travel and tourism to and within Southern Africa.
ABOUT FAIR TRADE TOURISM
Fair Trade Tourism is a not-for-profit company that provides a sustainability management framework, technical support, networking platform, and certification to enable the tourism sector to operate with FTT’s six principles embedded in day-to-day operations. The FTT logo is the mark of a good holiday and best practice in responsible and Fair Trade Tourism, defined byfair wages and working conditions, fair purchasing and operations, equitable distribution of benefits, and respect for human rights, culture, and the environment. It means that the people who contribute their land, resources, labour, and knowledge to tourism are the ones who reap the benefits and that the natural environment on which it all depends is treated with respect in pursuit of more resilient destinations.
