Responsible Tourism has become highly placed on the WTM agenda. Wilfred Chivell of Marine Dynamics was invited by Prof. Harold Goodwin (Manchester Metropolitan University) to be a speaker on a responsible tourism panel entitled: Taking Responsibility for Wildlife and National Parks. This was an ideal opportunity to showcase the difference Marine Dynamics as a shark cage diving operator can make to the environment in which we operate. Marine Dynamics invests heavily into the research and conservation of the great white shark as well as other iconic species like the endangered African penguin. Other talks highlighted terrestrial animals so this was a great opportunity to highlight the plight of the Great White Shark.
This talk and others along with an interesting panel debate can be viewed here
The 4th November has been declared World Responsible Tourism Day and a day when the winners of the Responsible Tourism Awards are celebrated. Marine Dynamics forms a crucial part of the Gansbaai application for this award, along with Grootbos Private Nature Reserve and various other players. It was wonderful to see Gansbaai win the award for Best destination for Responsible Tourism, a great accolade for the area. The awards were filmed by BBC Travel news and Stephen Sackur of BBC was the MC: “Gansbaai is home to a cluster of responsible tourism businesses, which include Grootbos and Marine Dynamics, both previous winners of our Responsible Tourism Awards. They are applauded for their commitment to local development and income generation programmes, and for investment in environmental conservation and education. The judges were impressed by how much more the businesses have been able to achieve by working together and in cooperation with local government.”
The awards were preceded by a lively debate about climate change and carbon emissions and the role of the tourism industry.
WTM is an incredible show and the responsible tourism agenda can only go from strength to strength.
Heidi van der Watt (Better Tourism Africa); Wilfred Chivell; Glenda Kitley (Gansbaai Tourism); Brenda du Toit (Marine Dynamics)