What Is Fair Trade Tourism?
Especially as discourse has ramped up surrounding the ethical implications of travel in recent years, many of us find ourselves looking for ways to leave a more positive impact on host communities.
This has led to a large shift in the tourism industry, with many tourism niches cropping up that aim to fulfil this need for ethical accountability including eco-tourism, green tourism, socially responsible tourism, sustainable tourism, soft travel, justice tourism, fair trade tourism, slow travel, peace tourism, community tourism, cultural tourism, and more. Whew! That's a lot to break down. At first glance, this can seem daunting, but at the end of the day, having a good idea of what each of these niches aims to accomplish can help us understand our impact on those around us and our priorities as a traveller. To simplify these tourism categories, we can break them down into two groups.
The first group is made up of moral frameworks, personal mandates and guiding principles that individual travellers and businesses can apply to their practices at their own pace.
The second is a group of certifiable designations when criteria absolutely MUST be met, and in some circumstances, graded.
So, what Is Fair Trade Tourism?
Fair Trade tourism is a certification-based travel niche that follows roughly the same set of rules and regulations are fair trade products- though the two networks are not officially connected.
Businesses who wish to be accredited must hold themselves to high ethical standards as outlined by Fair Trade Tourism, and pass regular audits of working conditions.
Fair Trade Tourism Criteria
Fair Trade partnerships between tourism and hospitality investors and local communities
In a nutshell, this means that appropriate consultation between third-party tourism providers and the local community, especially indigenous residents, must take place before offering services. This is especially important in cases where there are visits to local villages, participation in culturally significant practices or interaction/ immersion with locals. Nobody wants to feel like they are part of a human zoo.
Employers must also do their best to hire locals when possible and provide skills training opportunities to help increase local and indigenous employment within the tourism industry. This helps to ensure that the business is beneficial, and fair, to everybody.
Fair share of benefits for local stakeholders
The first part of this clause is all about money, and keeping it within the community. From an economic perspective, the goal is to avoid leakages and promote the multiplier effect. This means that fair prices should be set for services, and fair compensation should exist between domestic and foreign investors.
Businesses must make use of local products and materials when they are able to, and ideally these resources will be sustainably sourced. The certified businesses must also be transparent with their clients about how their activities benefit locals and educate travellers about how they can personally be more responsible and respectful.
The second part of this clause emphasizes respect for culture. Businesses are not allowed to monetize or capitalize on the culture of locals. This means they should choose appropriate images and language when marketing their service, with consultation where necessary.
Fair Trade between tourists and local people
This guideline states that tourists MUST pay (and be charged) fair market prices for goods and services provided by the locals. This could be anything from a visiting artisan or a taxi ride, but if it is something that the business helps to arrange, then fair pricing must be micromanaged.
It is also important that these businesses inform tourists about what fair pricing looks like and why it is important so that they will hopefully carry this practice over to their interactions with the community when they are not with the tour provider.
Fair and sustainable use of natural resources
It wouldn’t be fair trade is it didn’t include some environmental protection. Certified businesses are expected to donate to local sustainability efforts, take personal measures to protect the environment, and consult with the community about the eco-impact of tourism in their area.
Of course, they are also expected to comply with local, regional and national environmental regulations.
Fair wages and working conditions
Perhaps the trademark of fair trade, the final policy requires businesses to pay fair wages to their employees, and provide safe working conditions.
3 Totally Awesome Fair Trade Tourism Providers
Abang Africa Travel
Abang Africa Travel wants to take you all across the continent, cultivating authentic experiences that are locally-driven. Abang offers adventures travel activities such as paragliding and sandboarding, safari activities such as camping and rhino tracking, homestays and local experiences such as cooking classes and lunch with locals all from a pro-community lens. They not only have their Fait Trade Tourism Certification, but they also have four other awards for their sustainable, ethical and eco-friendly practices.
Farfield Tours
Farfield offers several, ethically-curated tours across South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Lesotho. They aim to give every tourist an authentic, adventurous, off-the-beaten path experience, without creating a negative draw on the host community. They hold environmental sustainability to be of the highest importance and fund several ecological conservation and carbon offsetting projects throughout Africa. Of course, they also adhere to all of the Fair Trade Tourism principles outlined above.
Tiritose
If you are looking for an ethical provider to take on a voluntourism project with, Tiritose is one of the best. They support several deserving charities in Africa outside of the contributions made by volunteers, they aim to employ locals and only bring in skilled workers to impart wisdom (not take over jobs that should belong to locals) and participate in important healthy and conservation projects around Zimbabwe.
If you are interested in learning more about the principles of Fair trade tourism, or find more businesses to book your next vacation with, you can visit http://www.fairtradetourism.org/.