Building capacity for sustainable consumption and tourism

Although Durban – the third largest city in South Africa – is well placed economically thanks to its major port, there is a high level of unemployment, particularly in the extensive peri-urban areas. Women in particular also face disadvantages on the labour market. At the same time, every year South Africa is the chosen destination of countless visitors from all over the world, and benefits from a flourishing tourism sector. However, this is concentrated on a few destinations, such as the region around Cape Town and the national parks in the north-east of the country. Durban is more of a stopover, and the surrounding area in particular is not very well developed for tourism.

The project of the two partner cities therefore focused on strengthening capacities for sustainable tourism in the environs of Durban, in order to create additional income-generating opportunities for disadvantaged population groups. During implementation, local and cultural conditions were taken into account and travellers were offered experiences off the beaten track in the most sustainable way possible. Handicraft items produced by local women served as an important marketing tool to promote the project abroad, and at the same time as part of the local tourist offering.

During a kick-off workshop in Bremen in 2016, the sustainability criteria of the project were further refined, the pros and cons of external certifications were discussed and concrete target groups for the project were defined. At the same time, talks were held with tourism companies in Durban to find out about their needs, problems and possible obstacles to project implementation. Here, various difficulties came to light that have so far made it difficult for entrepreneurs to access the market. These include training deficits, difficult accessibility due to a poorly developed infrastructure, and little or no opportunity to advertise the services offered.

In the course of the project it also became clear that many larger and already established tourism businesses had reservations about new small businesses or individual entrepreneurs such as tourist guides, as these often operate in the informal sector. The lack of visibility and the strong training requirement among small businesses highlighted the need for marketing measures and further training. The project therefore set up a network to bring together established and new businesses. Training workshops were offered to small and medium-sized businesses to familiarise them with how to approach and deal with international visitors, and how to advertise their services using attractive marketing materials. A separate booking platform was set up for all these providers, thus offering businesses from the informal sector in particular an opportunity to advertise their tourism products on the Internet for the first time. At the same time, these products were presented in Germany at tourism fairs such as the ITB or the 'forum anders Reisen', in order to introduce travellers to South Africa to the idea of a stay in Durban.

Thanks to these measures, the number of registered visitors in the area around Durban has increased by about a quarter compared to the beginning of the project. This positive development has helped to directly increase the income of the project's target group, and has created additional jobs. Furthermore, the increase in sales of handicraft products used for marketing has almost exclusively benefited women from the region.

The project has shown that even regions that have received little attention so far do have tourism potential. It has also shown that expanding corresponding service offerings can contribute significantly to the creation of jobs and added value. Supporting small and medium-sized enterprises rather than large-scale projects is most effective for the local economy. At the same time, it is absolutely essential to involve the local population in order to minimise the negative impacts of tourism on people and nature.