Tydens 'n skemerkelkie geleentheid verlede Dinsdag by die inligtingskantoor van Gansbaai Toerisme is die internasionale toekenning wat Gansbaai Toerisme ontvang het, gevier. Die voorsitter van die Gansbaai Toerisme, Brenda du Toit, het in haar toespraak verwys na die hoë vlak van mededinging om as wenner bekroon te word as die wêreld se mees Verantwoordelike Toerisme Bestemming. Glenda Kitley het die toekenning in London, Engeland, ontvang. Daar het 186 lande meegeding. Die volgende is uittreksels van du Toit se toespraak.
"Special thanks to Wesgro and the Overstrand Municipality who paid for Glenda to attend. And special thanks to Marine Dynamics for sponsoring my trip. Wilfred also attended where he spoke on a responsible tourism panel: Taking Responsibility for Wildlife and National Parks. Most conservation centres on land animals so it was good to give the great white shark and the African penguin some airtime.
Back to the award. In total the shortlist was whittled down from 206 entries from 69 countries in 12 categories. The awards are celebrated on World Responsible Tourism day. The ceremony opened with a lively debate on climate change and the role of the tourism industry that was attended by Minister of Tourism Derek Hanekom. All was filmed by BBC Travel News and MC’d by BBC host Stephen Sackur. Gansbaai was up against Aruba and Cyprus.
This is what was said as the award was handed out.
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. This is a great WIN for Gansbaai but only the start of what can really be achieved if we continue to focus on the greater good of our environment and our communities. Special congratulations to Grootbos for winning silver for Poverty reduction. Well done. We hope that this award will encourage other businesses to follow some of the winning example, all of which can be read about on the relevant website links that Glenda will send with the next newsletter," het du Toit gesê.
Francois de Jongh
