Sustainable Tourism

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM IN KENYA.

DEFINITIONS;

Definition 1

Sustainable tourism is the form of tourism that meets the needs of tourists, the tourism industry, and host communities today. Without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Definition 2

Sustainable tourism (or responsible tourism) is the tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities.

Definition 3.

“Tourism Sustainable design is the set of perceptual and analytic abilities, ecological wisdom, and practical wherewithal essential to making things that fit in a world of microbes, plants, animals, and entropy. In other words, (sustainable design) is the careful meshing of human purposes with the larger patterns and flows of the natural world, and careful study of those patterns and flows to inform human purposes.” David Orr, Professor, Oberlin College, Ohio.

Definition 4

“Sustainability is equity over time. As a value, it refers to giving equal weight in your decisions to the future and the present. You might think of it as extending the Golden Rule through time, so that you do unto future generations as you would have them do unto you.” Robert Gilman, Director, Context Institute.

INTRODUCTION

According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO), sustainable tourism should:
1. Make optimal use of environmental resources.
2. Respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities. Conserve the communities’ built and living cultural heritage and traditional values, and contribute to inter-cultural understanding and tolerance.

3. Ensure viable, long-term economic operations, providing socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders.

DIMENSIONS OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM.

Three dimensions of sustainable tourism are:

1. Environmental dimension. 

Encompasses the natural resources (minerals, air, land), natural environment (mountains, forests, rivers), farmed environment (agriculture landscapes), wildlife and built environment (transport infrastructure, dams, buildings, townscapes).

2. Economic dimension.

• Economic benefits of tourism: job creation, injection of income into the economy, infrastructural development, attracts foreign investments.
• Economic costs of tourism: jobs are low paid and seasonal, congestion, over-dependence on tourism makes the host economy vulnerable, the need to invest in expensive infrastructure.

3. Social Dimension

• Socio-cultural impacts of tourism usually occur slowly over time in an unspectacular fashion. They are also largely invisible and intangible.
• The social impact of tourism is usually permanent with little or no opportunity to reverse the changes once it has taken place.

EFFORTS TO ACHIEVE SUSTAINABLE TOURISM.

Typically, lodges and camps do more for the local community by providing jobs, training, and the establishment of income-generating enterprises. They also find it easier and less expensive to replace their wood stoves with solar and wind energy and use more environmentally friendly sewage and waste disposal systems. As locations like the Maasai Mara face rising environmental pressures, many camps have openly banned the use of firewood, while others have built their own manmade wetlands to recycle their effluent naturally.

ENERGY MANAGEMENT

Many hotels and resorts, particularly those located outside of cities, are now investing in renewable energy sources. Solar power, in particular, is the preferred option, and most environmentally conscious residences now use some form of solar energy for electricity and water heating. Although wind power isn’t as popular as once, numerous local vendors are stoking interest.

One area in which Kenya has made impressive gains is in the recycling of organic waste to provide an alternative source of fuel for water heating and cooking. With the growing bans on fuel wood – particularly in the national parks – fuel briquettes are being made from an increasing variety of waste materials. Nairobi briquette machine producer, the Millennium Fuel Project (P.O. Box 15010-00509, Nairobi), encourages women’s groups to produce their own briquettes and sell the surplus to safari camps and lodges in the Mara. Such practices will help save the remaining forests in the countrys main reserve, ravaged by tree-felling and charcoal burning.

WASTE MANAGEMENT

Hotels and lodges produce huge amounts of solid and liquid waste, and because many of them are located in isolated places without access to municipal services, they must discover ways to keep their sewage from polluting the environment. Solid waste management initiatives range from responsible purchasing to waste separation and recycling. In addition to composting green waste and reusing it in vegetable gardens, most lodges and camps are now returning non-biodegradable waste – tin, glass, paper, and batteries – to Nairobi, where larger manufacturers recycle it.

Managing liquid waste is more difficult in remote areas, though interest in using constructed wetlands for recycling wastewater for return to the environment is growing rapidly. Many camps and lodges are also being forced to use biodegradable green detergents to improve the quality of their gray water due to peer pressure The management of liquid waste is more difficult in remote areas, though interest in the use of constructed wetlands for recycling wastewater for return to the environment is growing rapidly. Many camps and lodges are also forced to use biodegradable green detergents to improve the quality of their gray water due to peer pressure and increasing pressure from discerning guests.

WATER CONSERVATION

Water is a precious commodity in many of Kenya’s semi-arid environments and a source of growing conflict between people and wildlife. Lodges play an important role in raising water conservation awareness and practice, particularly in remote rural areas. In addition to simple initiatives such as encouraging guests to reuse towels and reduce their water consumption, many lodges are implementing serious water conservation measures such as restricting water pumping to specific times of the day, installing low-pressure showers, and promoting the use of recycled water and rainwater. Although these measures are not always comfortable, we would like to encourage guests to appreciate how they help lodges coexist with water-stressed communities, livestock, and wildlife. Many lodges and camps are also planting trees and encouraging local communities to do so as a sustainable source of firewood and to protect catchment areas. 

HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT RESOLUTIONS

Much effort is being made to reduce human-wildlife conflict levels in areas outside Kenya’s parks and reserves. Interventions range from fencing off protected areas to encouraging community tourism enterprises and compensating pastoralists and farmers whose livestock are killed or wild animals damage crops. Diverse players drive these actions, including commercial investors, local NGOs, and international conservation organizations. A growing number of local events, such as the famous Rhino Charge four-wheel-drive challenge and the Lewa Safari Marathon, are also held to raise funds for such initiatives.

OTHER STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE TOURISM IN KENYA;

1. Small-scale tourism instead of mass tourism. This is because mass tourism is usually not concerned with environmental impact or climate change and puts business and revenue as its top priority, whereas the main goal of sustainable tourism is to make minimal impact on local communities while improving their state of well-being as well as maintaining the environmental stability and viability for future dependants.

2. Mass tourism organized into integrated resort developments or ‘honeypots of visitor attraction’. This helps ensure less exploitation of touristic resources and their degradation conserving them for future use.

3. Mass tourism that is spatially dispersed, and 

4.  Tourism with greater local participation and that consumes more local than foreign products and services. This helps the hosts understand their role in maintaining biodiversity of their regions in that they leap most of the tourism benefits.

5. Maintaining or enhancing cultural diversity through protecting landscapes and cultural heritage.

6. Respecting the integrity of local cultures.
7. Enhancing cooperation between the tourism industry and national and local authorities and local communities

8. Developing and implementing integrated planning and management of destinations to preserve their quality and future accessibility.

OLENGUGIH SAFARIS EFFORTS TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

It is our responsibility as a tour company to ensure tourism sustainability in Kenya to ensure a better life for our environment and the people.

Below are initiatives Olengugih Safaris is taking to ensure Tourism Sustainability.

Olengugih Safaris encourages responsible and sustainable travel practices among tourists, such as reducing plastic waste . We offer all our customers steel reusable water bottles, thus reducing use of plastic water bottles while on safari.

We partner with local organizations and businesses that promote sustainable tourism, such as eco-lodges and community-based tourism initiatives. Several of our employees are active members of Eco Tourism Kenya,.

We use sustainable transportation options, such as bicycles, for tours and excursions whenever possible.

Our company incorporates education about the environment and conservation into our tour itineraries.

We regularly support conservation efforts through donations or by offering eco-friendly tour packages. Organizing educational tours for school kids twice per year .

Olengugih Safaris implements sustainable management practices at the company, such as recycling and energy-efficient measures.

We emphasize the importance of local communities and cultures in tour offerings and actively involve them in tourism activities. We often train our employees on environmentally friendly practices while out on safari.

The company uses digital platforms to promote sustainable tourism and share information about sustainable tourism practices with tourists. Every Tuesday, we ensure to educate our followers on all our social media platforms on ways to travel sustainably.

We are involved in game park clean-up exercises, especially at Nairobi National Park.