Apolinari Tairo
12 October 2008
Nairobi — Top tourism and travel executives from around the world will meet in Tanzania in December to discuss how the tourist sector can support local communities in Africa.
Organised by the Centre on Eco-tourism and Sustainable Development, the Travellers' Philanthropy Conference will be the first of its kind in Africa. The first such conference was held in Washington DC in 2004.
Dr Martha Honey, co-director of the Centre on Eco-tourism and Sustainable Development said over 300 participants are expected at the conference, among them being the key proponents of wildlife conservation and environmentalists.
The conference marks the most comprehensive examination todate of "travellers' philanthropy" -- the growing global initiatives through which tourism businesses and travellers are helping to support local schools, clinics, micro-enterprises, job training, conservation, and other types of projects in tourism destinations around the world, she said.
"We have chosen to hold the conference in East Africa because there are many fine examples of responsible tourism businesses," said Dr Honey.
The three-day conference in Arusha will bring together key practitioners from socially responsible tourism businesses, experts in the field of sustainable tourism and philanthropy, community based organisations and global and regional NGOs doing development work, the UN and other development agencies, philanthropic foundations, government, and the media.Among participants at the conference are Dr David Western and Nobel laureate Prof Wangari Maathai.
Dr Western is founder of the Africa Conservation Centre and former director of the Kenya Wildlife Service.
He will give an address on "Ecotourism, Conservation and Development in Eastern Africa."
Prof Maathai, founder of the Greenbelt Movement, serves on the boards of various organisations, including the UN Secretary General's Advisory Board on Disarmament, the Jane Goodall Institute, the Women and Environment Development Organisation, the World Learning for International Development.
She also sits on the boards of the Green Cross International, the Environment Liaison Centre International, the Worldwide Network of Women in Environmental Work and the National Council of Women of Kenya.
She will give the keynote address at the conference.
Other speakers and personalities at the conference are Judy Kepher-Gona of Ecotourism Kenya, Dennis Pinto of Micato Safaris (USA), Bruce Poon, founder and CEO of GAP Adventures (USA), Les Carlisle and Nicki Fitzgerald of Conservation Corporation of Africa (South Africa).
The United States Agency for International Development, together with the Jane Goodall Institute, is supporting the plenary session on "HIV/Aids: Responses from the Travel Industry" and the workshops under the theme "Travellers' Philanthropy: Contribution to Conservation."
The conference will also be addressed by Lars Lindkvist of Basecamp Explorer (Masai Mara), Tony and Maureen Wheeler, founders of Lonely Planet and Toni Neubauer, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Myths and Mountains.
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