The Batwa Trail, located in the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, offers a nature walk tour that introduces visitors to the Batwa culture.

Batwa are indigenous communities who previously inhabited the Bwindi and Mgahinga National Parks in Uganda. A marginalized hunter-gatherer tribe, the Batwa have a wealth of knowledge about the forests and maintain a rich non-destructive heritage with the forests. The current population of Batwa people in Uganda is estimated at only 6,705. In the 1990s, when the Uganda government creation the Mgahinga and Bwindi national parks to protect biodiversity and endangered mountain gorillas, the Batwa people were evicted from the forest. They now live in adjacent agricultural communities as landless squatters.

On June 27, 2012, the Uganda Ministry of Tourism, USAID Mission to Uganda, Uganda Wildlife Authority and other private and public sector representatives commissioned several new developments for the Batwa Trail. These planned improvements include a shorter trail, artistic cave shelter, lunch shed and improved solar lighting worth over $31,000.

Roughly 2,500 tourists visit Mgahinga Park each year. In addition, 206 tourists have visited the Batwa Trail. Over a 2-month period, Batwa cultural trail had registered 22 (6.3% of all tourists) paying tourists. With investment in volcano hiking infrastructure and increased marketing, tourism numbers are expected to increase 50% by 2014.

There is great optimism that this revamped trail, a unique initiative that allows the Batwa tribe access to the land from which they were evicted in the 1990s, will allow tourists to explore the cultural site of Africa’s last forest people and add about $12,500 a year to the tourism revenue with 50% of it going to the Batwa people.

This project has been jointly developed by Solimar International under USAID STAR, the USFS, the International Gorilla Conservation Program (IGCP), Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), Greater Virunga Trans-boundary Collaboration (GVTC), United Organization of Batwa Development in Uganda (UOBDU), and Kisoro District Local Government.

On May 23, 2012, Solimar International kicked off its 13 month project: Promotion des Circuits Touristiques Integrant L’artisanat (Promotion of Tourism Circuits that Integrate Handcrafts, funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). This project aims to increase the convergence between the craft and tourism industries and increase revenue through the creation of tourism circuits in the Medinas of Fes and Marrakech. Since the project started, the team has been busy meeting with local stakeholders and working to organize workshops to introduce the project to the different regions. The team held its first workshop in Fes on June 22, 2012, and the second workshop in Marrakech on July 9, 2012.

For the June 22 workshop, the project required a minimum of 50 people in attendance, but there was an amazing turnout of 140 people. The State Secretary for Crafts, the Director of APP, about 15 journalists and other distinguished guests were present. The Chief of Party, Olivier Messmer, gave a very impressive presentation on the goals and objectives of the project, what the tourism circuits for Fes were and how the project would roll out its activities over the next 13 months. We have received a lot of positive feedback from APP as well as the Ministry of Crafts for this opening workshop. Special thanks to Shawndra, Olivier and the entire Morocco team for putting together such a successful workshop. We look forward to continued success for the next workshop in Marrakech!

This year marks Solimar’s fifth year working on the Global  Sustainable Tourism Criteria – a groundbreaking set of voluntary guidelines created to provide an international understanding of sustainable tourism. The long term goal: strengthen consumer confidence in  the tourism industry’s sustainability claims and provide a clear path for tourism business seeking more sustainability in their offers.

This movement has come a long way since 2007 when Solimar was first contracted to analyze nearly 3000 tourism criteria from around the world. After the original GSTC Criteria for hotels and tour operators  were launched in 2008, the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) came to life out of the ad hoc coalition of partners such as the United Nations Foundation, UNEP, Sabre/Travelocity and Rainforest Alliance that helped finance and provide guidance to the initiative. Solimar has built websites, managed social media outreach, developed GSTC indicators and supported the ongoing technical review and revision of the GSTC Criteria as the Council has grown from a network of less than 50 to its current 200-strong membership.

Throughout 2011, the GSTC has focused on building a series of recognition processes  that will add additional strength to sustainable tourism standards and certification programs by ensuring that they meet global best practices. Standards –may apply to receive GSTC recognition, and several – including those from the Rainforest Alliance, EarthCheck, and Costa Rican Tourism Board have done so. Certification programs with GSTC-recognized standards can then apply to become GSTC Approved. The first GSTC Approved  standard is set to be announced soon.

This year, the GSTC is moving into its next phase as they develop a set of global criteria focused on sustainable destination management. Solimar Chaiman, Don Hawkins, has been involved in the development of the criteria set to launch in December. Like the criteria for hotels and tour operators, the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria for Destinations will serve as an aspirational set of guidelines for places interested in conserving and strengthening their human, cultural, and environmental resources. Five pilot destinations, including the Okavango Delta  and Lanzarote have volunteered to pilot test the criteria and ensure that they are attainable and useful in a real context.

The GSTC Criteria have proven to be a useful tool for Solimar’s projects in Bolivia and the Western Balkans where they provide a previously unavailable starting point to assess current sustainable tourism efforts and a clear path for operator training, product management, and targeted marketing.

The GSTC hosted its 3rd Annual Meeting this week in Washington, DC, featuring an impressive line up of speakers from the travel industry.

Solimar extends a big congratulations to the Uganda Community Tourism Association (UCOTA) as it will be presented the TO DO! Socially Responsible Award for 2012 in recognition of its Pearls of Uganda program. This is the second consecutive year that one of Solimar’s clients is awarded the TO DO! Award. Last year’s winner was the San Miguel del Bala Ecolodge, a community-run ecolodge in the Bolivian Amazon.

What are the Pearls of Uganda? 

The Pearls of Uganda Program, which officially launched in May 2011, was created by Solimar in partnership with the Uganda Community Tourism Association under the USAID-funded STAR (Sustainable Tourism in the Albertine Rift) project. When Winston Churchill visited Uganda he called it “the Pearl of Africa.” Decades later, tourists can experience the same stunning beauty through the Pearls of Uganda and its network of cultural attractions or “Pearls.”

The Pearls of Uganda are a collection of authentic cultural community attractions located throughout Uganda. Run by local communities, these attractions include nature walks, village tours, cultural performances, traditional cooking demonstrations, and craft workshops. They are designed to provide travelers with a glimpse of traditional and modern day Ugandan life. Profits from the tours and attractions benefit local communities as the money goes to support schools, fund conservation projects, and provide income for local guides and performers.

The Pearls of Uganda network also establishes partnerships with hotels, tour operators, and other businesses that are committed to sustainable tourism. These “Pearls Supporters” pledge to contribute to conservation and community efforts in exchange for promotion and partnership under the Pearls network.There are currently over 20 Pearls of Uganda attractions and over 50 private sector Pearls Supporters

What are the TO DO! Awards? 

The “TO DO! Contest for Socially Responsible Tourism” is organized by Studienkreis für Tourismus und Entwicklung (Institute for Tourism and Development) and invites entries from all over the world. The award was created in 1995 in response to newfound global focus on conservation and ecotourism initiatives. The award aimed to not only celebrate ecotourism but also simultaneously push local populations to participate in and benefit from its implementation.

Awards are given to those who honor the principles of environmental compatibility, while also exemplifying all of the following behaviors:

• Awareness Raising
  Enhancing the awareness of the local people regarding the risks and benefits of tourism development in their economic, social and cultural life;
• Wide-ranging benefit
  Participation of a broad local population strata in the positive economic, social and cultural effects of tourism;
• Qualified jobs in tourism
  Guarantee of the attractiveness of jobs in tourism for the local people by improving working conditions relative to payment, social security, working hours as well as education and training;
• Strengthening of identity
  Strengthening the local culture and the cultural identity of people living in tourist destination areas;
• Minimization/avoidance of damage
  Avoiding and minimizing any social and cultural damage caused by tourism in tourist destination areas.

The Impact of the Pearls of Uganda Program

The Pearls of Uganda success story is a true testament to the benefits sustainable tourism can offer local communities as all profit generated by each Pearl directly contributes to the socio-economic empowerment of it community members in a manner that is not detrimental to their cultural heritage and natural surroundings. So far, the program has experienced impressive results. Since the start of the Pearls program, the number of guests to each community has increased year by year and there has been a huge increase in the inclusion of Pearls on set itineraries of mainstream tour operators, as well as listings on their websites.

For years, Solimar has worked to promote sustainable growth through tourism in destinations around the globe. With one special project, we’ve had the opportunity to turn to our own back yard and look at how the tried and tested programs employed in the deserts of Africa, the mountains of Eastern Europe, and the jungles of Central America can be deployed in a culturally rich and environmentally fragile location in the United States.

The Black Belt Region of Alabama stretches through 13 counties and has historically been an agriculture center for the state. It has also weathered a sordid history of political disenfranchisement and violent racism. As a result, the region faces severe challenges of poverty. The small community of Gee’s Bend, located within the Black Belt, is a community of just over 200 people located an hour away from the civil rights flashpoint of Selma.

People have been traveling to Gee’s Bend for years to appreciate their scenic location on the Alabama River, visit their famous quiltmakers, and experience a sliver of southern culture that is still unique, palpable, and authentic.

Solimar has worked with Sustainable Rural Regenerative Enterprises for Families (SURREF) through a Ford Foundation grant to build a new community-based tourism enterprise that will maximize tourism revenues by offering – for the first time – tourism packages that encourage visitors to stay longer, spend more, and truly appreciate all that this small destination has to offer.

Nearly complete, a destination development strategy has been designed with Solimar’s guidance to create itineraries that capture the culture elements of Gee’s Bend and market them to an eager market. Highlights will include a hands-on interactive experience with Gee’s Bend world-famous quilters, a riverside lunch of local favorites catered by a local chef using local produce, and a guided walking tour of key historic sites including a spot visited by Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

The community-based tourism development strategy is a culmination of nearly 6 months of interactive workshops and brainstorming sessions with regional destination managers, local tour operators, and over 100 community members.

The sales, marketing, and operations of the prescribed destination management company will all be handled by Gee’s Bend residents trained in according to Solimar’s enterprise development training process.

The tours are set to launch to a pilot audience at the end of the year.