Top takeaways from Sustainable Tourism Africa Summit 2019

The Sustainable Tourism Africa Summit (STAS) last month showcased inspiring examples of people and organisations driving sustainable development through tourism – tourism that benefits both people and the planet while making profit, forming a virtuous circle where everyone wins.

But those attending were a tiny proportion of the continent’s industry, which meant we were all preaching to the converted. With this in mind panels, break-out sessions and workshops focused on how we make these positive actions scalable and mainstream sustainability to ensure the longevity of African destinations that measures successful tourism in terms of impact, not numbers.

Below are my key takeaways for how we should move forward to address this conundrum:

1) People, Planet, Profit – in that order.

Sustainability starts at home and starts with your people – passionate and empowered sustainability champions in your team will do wonders for people outside the organisation, for the planet around them, and the profits will follow.

2) Measuring tourism success needs to move away from numbers. It’s about impact. 

Counting tourists is easy but it’s not what’s important – we need to get better at measuring the quality of that tourism experience, for both tourists and host communities alike. If you can’t measure it, how can you effectively manage it?

3) Sustainability is the new luxury.

There's a growing niche of travellers searching for sustainable tourism; according to Booking.com’s recent survey, 70% of people said an eco-label would make them more likely to book and 71% said they want more sustainable offerings, but intention does not necessarily equal action. Sustainable offerings need to be creative, innovative and value for money to compete with existing products on the market.

4) Cooperation is the new competition. 

 Africa must shift its own mindset on tourism to ensure longevity of its unique destinations - no one will change the narrative for us, not politicians, not government, we need to do it ourselves. The industry must collaborate across sectors and countries to share best practice and create critical mass of sustainable practices.

5) "Every actions counts, leave no one behind, there’s no time to waste." 

Wise last words from our host, Judy Kepher-Gona. We can all be changemakers, let’s get everyone on board, and get cracking. After three days with such an inspiring crowd, I can’t wait for next year already! 

Mehalah Beckett is Intrepid DMC Regional General Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa. Connect with Mehalah on LinkedIn here.