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Communities
are the heart
of today's
Eco Scene ...
bringing prosperity and peace through tourism
by
Jerry W. Bird
Khayelitsha
Township, Cape Town
Cape
Town Tour Guide Dan Dunn (right) helped make our final week
in Cape Town one of the most memorable ever. Dan introduced
us to Thope Lekau (above right) and started off a beautiful
friendship. We enjoyed an overnight stay at Kopanong, a
charming bed and breakfast which has been featured in a
number of hospitality trade magazines in South Africa. Now
we know the reason why. Contact Thope at Kopanong B&B,
e-mail: kopanong@xsinet.co.za
.
Contact Dan Dunn at Southern Tip Tours (stt@global.co.za)
Follow Africa Travel Magazine's journeys in and around Cape
Town, South Africa. (more to come)
.In
recent years, we have been exposed to great ideas in the
bud, and one of these is "Communities in Bloom," a
program where the citizens of a village or inner city take
it upon themselves to beautify their surroundings in a
creative way. The result is not only making those areas more
conducive for a pleasant lifestyle - it helps put many of
them on the tourist map. That brings income and a whole new
circle begins. We hope to introduce this program to
communities across Africa via corporate sponsors. Fax (604)
681-6595, e-mail africa@dowco.com.
Communities
and Racial Integration
Our Editors covered the week long " Metropolis
Convention"
in Vancouver Canada, which focused on cultural integration
in the inner communities of large and medium sized cities.
This year's event will be held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands
from November 26 to 30.
The
Metropolis Project creates opportunities for government
decision-makers, researchers, and non-governmental agents to
discuss policies and programs for integrating immigrants and
minorities and for effectively managing the impact of
immigration and diversity on city life.
Metropolis
fosters exchanges that go beyond the stating of positions,
beyond descriptions, and beyond advocacy. The Project
provides unique opportunities for stakeholders who share a
vision of improving society through collaboration and
partnership to engage each other, to acknowledge problems
openly, and to work, unfettered, to solve them.
Community Airports. Windows on the World
We have been flouting the merits of community airports since
the early 90s, when we jumped into the fray of Open Skies.
At the Globe '98 Conference, where several thousand highly
charged individuals from 50 nations pooled their ideas, I
saw more practical ideas for solving ecological problems
than you'll read about in a decade. Hearing of our work with
a network of air gateways as distribution points for our
magazines, Globe's Dr. Rashmi Mayur, Ph.D. invited me to
speak on "The Green Airport: Agora of the Future" at a World
Ecological Conference in India. Dr. Mayur says our true goal
should be Eco-Travel, not just Ecotourism. "Today's airport
must be a true part of the community - a people place - an
agora. Many of the larger airports are the exact opposite;
unfriendly, claustrophobic, intimidating, expensive, noisy,
wasteful and inconvenient," says Dr. Mayur. Airports should
be the epitome of user friendliness - each being a gateway
to trade and tourism. First impressions count - you may
never get a second chance.
"Bridges of
Understanding in each Community." There will be a day
very soon, when language, race, religion, age and color will
no longer be a barrier. The peace corps and student exchange
programs have helped in this regard, and the internet will
accelerate the cause. Since peace begins at home, we must
all bridge the generation gap and curb family violence.
Respect for elders has been fundamental to the African way
of life for centuries. Here's one area where the developed
world can learn from us. Our theme "A society for all ages"
is an ideal way of articulating that goal. Older persons as
goodwill ambassadors is a great way of demonstrating it. A
first cousin of tolerance is respect or appreciation for the
other person's position, customs, institutions and
environment. Tourism organizations like PATA , the Caribbean
Tourist Organization, ATA and others, drive this point home
time and again.
(see
Bridges to Peace)
Transportation
Linking Communities of Africa
Rail Travel is staging a remarkable comeback in various
areas of the world, earning dollars for the entrepreneurs
who gambled some ten years ago. There are up to 9 different
gauges of railway tracks in Africa, which poses both a
problem and a challenge. While in Ethiopia, I mentioned on a
BBC interview, the potential impact on tourism of
reintroducing Emperor Haile Selassie's Lion
of Judah Rail Cars on
the tracks between Addis Ababa and Djibouti. There are many
other examples. Perhaps these successful rail tour operators
can lend their skills to a partnership. India's Palace on
Wheels and the growing popularity of rail travel in South
America, Siberia, Mongolia and Southeast Asia, are proof
that there's a big demand for rail adventures in emerging
nations.
You've seen what the
Cruise Industry has done for Alaska and the
Caribbean, with their floating hotels and a vast armada of
pocket cruise ships. Can you imagine what would happen if
Africans built a profitable cruise industry around their
most ancient means of travel? Just think of romantic
adventure cruise opportunities on our lakes, rivers and our
historic, exotic coastline? The Gold Coast, the Ivory Coast,
the Cape of Good Hope, the Indian Ocean Coast and its
treasured islands, the Red Sea and Suez Canal. Yes, as Mr.
Salia says about Africa, "Water transport is generally
neglected and undervalued." Perhaps this sleeping giant will
also awaken!
Let's
hear your
ideas
on positive community action.
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