Responsible Tourism Awards

Winners Announced 10 April, 16:00 to 17:00, Inspire Stage

Celebrating Excellence in Responsible Tourism

Welcome to the WTM Africa Responsible Tourism Awards, celebrating those driving positive change through sustainable tourism across Africa. These awards recognize businesses, destinations, and individuals leading the way in social, environmental, and economic sustainability.

Our goal is to honor and amplify efforts transforming Africa’s tourism industry, inspiring a shift toward responsible tourism that benefits local communities and preserves ecosystems.

By highlighting these changemakers, we aim to make responsible tourism the standard, fostering a sustainable future for Africa's tourism industry.

WTM Africa Recognition List Unveiled

Twenty organisations from across Africa will be recognised in the prestigious 2025 WTM Africa Responsible Awards on 10 April, at 4pm on the Inspire Stage, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

The twenty organisations will be recognised with either a "one to watch", "silver", or "gold" Responsible Tourism accolade. Everyone on the recognition list has demonstrated clear evidence, replicability, innovation, influence, sustainability and an overall commitment to responsible tourism.

The twenty organisations which will be recognised on 10 April are:

!Khwa ttu San Culture and Education Centre, Southern Africa, https://www.khwattu.org/

Community Rhino Conservation Initiative, Zimbabwe Hwange Community Rhino Conservation Initiative | Imvelo

Destination Zero Waste Zanzibar, TUI Care Foundation https://www.tuicarefoundation .com

Dlala Nje, Johannesburg, South Africa https://dlalanje.org/

Ele Collection, Zimbabwe https://www.elecollection.co/

Emboo Safari Camp, Kenya https://emboo.com

ESG Sustainability Agency: CityVisa http://esgsustainabilityagency.co.za/

Foxes Safari Camps, Tanzania https://www.foxessafaricamps.com/

Futureshapers Namibia, TUI Care Foundation TUI Futureshapers Namibia

Green Safaris Conservation Foundation, Zambia www.greensafaris.com

Hamagriza, South Africa https://letselatk.wixsite.com/ha-magriza-2

HBD Principe, São Tomé and Príncipe https://www.hbdprincipe.com/

Hideaways Africa, Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe https://hideawaysafrica.com/

Kijani Supplies https://kijani.odoo.com/

Loisaba Conservancy, Kenya Home - Loisaba Conservancy

Saruni Base Camp, Kenya Saruni Basecamp - Luxury Safari Camps & Lodges in Kenya

Table Mountain Ariel Cableway Company, South Africa www.tablemountain .net

The Heart of Cape Town South Africa The Heart of Cape Town

Township and Village, Stellenbosch, South Africa www.townshipandvillage.co.za

Volcanoes Safaris, Uganda and Rwanda https://volcanoessafaris .com/

The judges of the WTM Africa Responsible Tourism Awards are: Professor Harold Goodwin, managing director of the Responsible Tourism Partnership and founder ICRT global, Julie Cheetham chief operations officer at Travalyst, Glyn O' Leary Transfrontier Parks Destinations and ICRT Southern Africa, Ruth Crichton, operations and communications Grootbos Foundation and Grootbos Private Nature Reserve consultant for The Long Run and ICRT Southern Africa, Rachel Nxele chief sustainability officer at GlendonHill Partners, board member at South African Tourism, vice chair of the South Africa Tourism Services Association (SATSA) and communications and engagement coordinator for Fair Trade Tourism, Adama Bah, Institute of Travel and Tourism of The Gambia (ITTOG) and ICRT West Africa, and Debbie Hindle, chair ICRT global.

Anyone attending WTM Africa is encouraged to join the awards ceremony on 10 April to be inspired by stories of the 2025 Africa responsible tourism changemakers.

2025 Responsible Tourism Awards categories:

CAN AN ALL-INCLUSIVE BE RESPONSIBLE?

ADAPTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE

INCREASING LOCAL SOURCING – CREATING SHARED VALUE

PEACE & UNDERSTANDING

MANAGING WASTE: REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE, UPCYCLE

NATURE POSITIVE

1. CAN AN ALL-INCLUSIVE BE RESPONSIBLE?

All-inclusive holidays and resorts are widely criticised, but other all-inclusive travel experiences are not. There are all-inclusive safaris in Africa, many in national parks, yacht charters in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and the Americas, and all-inclusive cruises. There are all-inclusive holidays for the disabled and their families too.

The criticism often appears to be tinged with disdain, dismissed as an inferior form of tourism denying economic opportunities to local businesses and delivering a third-best experience for those who book them, unless, of course, it is a luxury all-inclusive. They remain popular, a Disneyland Resort offers “a dream trip … that fits your family’s preferences and budget.”

With mounting concern about the impacts of overtourism on the guest experience and on local communities, are there all-inclusives that contribute to reducing negative impacts and enhancing the positive?

Are there all-inclusives that

Are genuinely and practically inclusive, enabling families with low or modest incomes to take a holiday knowing that the costs are within their means.
Provide holidays for the differently abled travelling alone or with family.
Prioritise sourcing locally produced food and beverages, soft furnishings staff uniforms etc.
Employ local staff on full-time or seasonal contracts, decasualising their employment and providing additional staff benefits.
Employing local people to provide entertainment and sports activities
Encouraging the purchase of local arts and crafts by showcasing local products and the work of artists and crafters within the hotel or resort.

2. ADAPTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE

The consequences of climate change are increasingly evident in storms and floods, drought and wildfires, and rising sea levels. We need to make more rapid progress in reducing emissions. Our burning of fossil fuels in the sector and our supply chains is contributing to generating global warming. Businesses need to continue to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, not least because of the risks of stricter regulation likely to follow as people’s lives are impacted by extreme weather. In Valencia over 100,000 protested, demanding the resignation of the head of the regional administration “chanting ‘we are stained with mud, you are stained with blood’".

In common with other sectors, we now need to reduce our carbon emissions and protect our businesses and the destinations on which our sector depends against climate change. This year, we are broadening this award category to include both mitigation and adaptation.

We are looking for businesses and destinations actively contributing to the decarbonisation of tourism operations and exploring innovative ways to protect against threats to ensure business continuity.

This includes but is not limited to

Proven examples of emissions reduction in the travel & tourism sector.
Products, services or business models designed to limit, erase or counter the negative impact of travel and tourism-generated greenhouse gases on the environment.
Innovative strategies to future-proof destinations and businesses against the effects of climate change
Projects or experiences that engage tourists and/or communities in climate change awareness and look to inspire and influence others to reduce emissions

3. INCREASING LOCAL SOURCING – CREATING SHARED VALUE

As one of the world’s leading consumption sectors, tourism provides many economic benefits, including employment and business opportunities. Far too often, the money does not recirculate in the local economy or provide any benefit to the local people or environment. Tourism businesses can grow the local economy by spending on local goods and services and procuring services and products locally.

We are looking for businesses that have local purchasing practices in place and are actively working to create and promote local businesses and sole traders through their own supply chain and encouraging visitors to buy locally produced crafts and souvenirs.

This includes but is not limited to

Businesses that have created opportunities for local people as sole traders or SMMEs to profit from tourism, supporting them to start or grow local enterprises
Those that have created and encouraged visitors to purchase locally sourced souvenirs, use local services and employ local guides, surf schools and cooking classes are examples of how visitors' spending can improve local people's livelihoods.
Businesses that implement robust local supply chain policies that minimise economic leakage and support growth in the local economy.

4. PEACE & UNDERSTANDING

Mark Twain argued that travel broadens the mind: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” Jost Krippendorf, in his seminal book The Holiday Makers, reminded us that “every individual tourist builds up or destroys human values while travelling”. We all make choices about how we travel and about the tours and opportunities that we provide for our clients and guests. Are we, in the words of the 2022 Responsible Tourism Charter, providing tourists with the opportunities to make “more meaningful connections with local people and a greater understanding of local history and culture, and social and environmental issues” and/or offering “culturally sensitive experiences engendering respect between tourists and hosts, and building local pride and confidence.”

This includes but is not limited to

Efforts to promote understanding of “the other” and to encourage meaningful connections.
Initiatives designed to reduce conflict in destinations by using forums to benefit excluded or disadvantaged groups or to benefit the deprived.
Tourism experiences designed to educate tourists about the causes of war and to foster peace

5. MANAGING WASTE: REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE, UPCYCLE

Our businesses and supply chains produce waste; often, our guests bring it with them and “give it” to us. They leave it behind for us to deal with.

This year, we want to discover examples of good practice. We all know the mantra of reduce, reuse, recycle, upcycle. The challenge is to do it.

We are looking for proven practical examples of how our sector can reduce waste and particularly where it can be used to create value in the community or be sequestered, providing use or commercial value.

This includes but is not limited to:

Providing waste to crafters to turn into products which can be sold to tourists and locals
Supplying potable water in glass bottles and removing plastic from your operations
Upcycling waste glass, plastic bags etc
Selling upcycled products and using them in your business
Upcycling and sequestering waste plastic by turning it, for example, into furniture or using it to provide walkways or hard surfaces, bat or bird boxes etc
Collecting waste to prevent it from entering water courses and adding to the gyres of waste in the oceans.

6. NATURE POSITIVE

Wildlife and the natural environment are important drivers for travel. The travel and tourism sector depends on nature's beauty to provide its goods and services, yet tourism can negatively impact the places we visit.

The tourism sector has a responsibility to contribute to the reversal of biodiversity loss and protect nature for future generations by promoting a regenerative approach to tourism.

We are looking for businesses that act as guardians of biodiversity and take a regenerative approach to their operations.

This includes but is not limited to

Businesses that contribute to rebuilding and replenishing the natural environment and reduce the negative impacts caused by tourism
Businesses that have developed ways for people to have meaningful and close encounters with wildlife without causing harm to the species or their environment
Businesses and protected area managers that ensure that local communities benefit from nature-based tourism and that they, too, can experience the value of it
Educate travellers and raise awareness of the importance of protecting the environment.

Our Judging Criteria

Judges were looking for examples that inspired and challenged others to take more responsibility for managing tourism to make it more sustainable, minimize negative impacts, and maximize positive outcomes. The WTM Awards continued to use the same criteria that were used for the World Responsible Tourism Awards in 2016. They expected leaders in Responsible Tourism to have established practices with the following characteristics:

1. Evidence-based: The panel is looking for evidence of real change, businesses which can convincingly demonstrate positive impacts, or reduced negative impacts, quantified wherever possible.

2. Replicability: The Awards aim to inspire change; we seek to identify examples of best practices that can be replicated across the sector and around the world.

3. Innovation: The judges are looking for innovative practices that make a real difference, the Awards highlight new good practices, which the judges believe, can, and should, become common practice.

4. Influence: We look for businesses and organizations that are not only doing good work themselves but are using their influence to ensure their peers and suppliers do the same.

5. Sustainability and longevity: The judges seek to Award those businesses that understand that taking responsibility for tourism is a long journey, that it encompasses the economic, social, and environmental impacts of their activities, and who have a clear vision for the long- term success of the work, with future targets and plans in place.

6. Overall commitment to Responsible Tourism: Alongside the category-specific focus, there needs to be a clear overall commitment to positively impacting local communities, economies, cultures, and environments.