Sustainable Tourism

Every year, esteemed news platform, the Daily Maverick, hosts a conference to encourage and facilitate discourse around pressing local issues. This year, the theme The Gathering: Earth Edition, which was a climate-focused conference that brought together scientists, economists, business leaders, policymakers and activists to discuss practical solutions to the environmental, energy and economic crises South Africa faces.

Daily Maverick organised numerous panel discussions featuring distinguished panellists and provided a platform for several esteemed speakers, including Andre de Ruyter, former CEO of Eskom, Kumi Naidoo, former secretary general of Amnesty International and executive director of Greenpeace, and Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, the founder of The Gift of The Givers.

What we have realised at Big Tree Marketing is that climate change isn’t an isolated issue that will only affect a small percentage of industries. Rather, it will affect all industries, in a unique way. Tourism is one of the industries that will be hit hard by climate change. Changing weather patterns and an increase in natural disasters will disrupt travel plans, damage tourist destinations and limit the availability of activities such as skiing or beach tourism. Additionally, biodiversity loss due to climate change will reduce the appeal of natural tourism such as touring national parks. Finally, efforts to mitigate climate change, such as carbon pricing and sustainable practices, may lead to increased costs for travel and accommodation, potentially impacting the affordability and accessibility of tourism.

Understanding just how deeply affected our industry is by climate change led us to attend this conference. The opening of the event was marked by a captivating protest song, modified to incorporate lyrics addressing the dangers of climate change, which was delivered by Anneli. Following this, Andre de Ruyter presented the first keynote address, centred around the 5 E’s: Energy, Economy, Employment, Exports, and Equity. During his speech, de Ruyter emphasised the importance of adopting renewable energy, fostering economic growth, and facilitating a fair energy transition that prioritises job creation. He appealed to The Gathering audience to not overlook the individuals adversely affected by this energy transition.

Throughout the day, interesting panel discussions took place, covering a range of critical topics. These included “South Africa’s Burning Energy Problem,” “Expectations of Youth,” “Artificial Intelligence: Addressing Threats and Solutions to the Climate Crisis,” “Corruption and Ecosystem Collapse,” “The Business of Climate,” and “The Sixth Extinction.”

In the final panel on the sixth extinction, Professor Roger Smith emphasised that while long-term climate change is a natural process, the rapid climate change we currently face is far from ordinary. Pavitray Pillar, an Environmental Behavior Change Practitioner at the World Wildlife Fund, encouraged attendees to make positive changes in their lifestyles, recognizing the role consumers play in mitigating climate change.

This is an important note I will leave with you. While individuals aren’t the cause of climate change, we still have a large role to play in stopping it. It is important that we take action within ourselves, and within our businesses. We will share more on how to do this, so stay tuned.