Sustainable Tourism with Cedarberg Africa
Our Core Values
“Care for the people, the environment and for the future”
Our company was set up with the idea of working within the local community. In 1994 Kate had just started her new life on a farm in rural South Africa. She had decided she wanted a company that was good for her new home, South Africa. And that it needed to be good for its people, its environment and the wider world.
Travel was perfect. South Africa was desperate for good quality employment for its population after the end of apartheid. Few barriers to entry and good prospects were essential if it was to help the previously underprivileged. As the country developed it would want good reasons to protect its fragile environments and their flora and fauna. These often conflicting themes of employment, development and preservation could both be met within tourism.
Travel was perfect. South Africa was desperate for good quality employment for its population after the end of apartheid. Few barriers to entry and good prospects were essential if it was to help the previously underprivileged. As the country developed it would want good reasons to protect its fragile environments and their flora and fauna. These often conflicting themes of employment, development and preservation could both be met within tourism.
Key Ideas of the AITO Ethos
“…tourism can be a force for good and should benefit the lives of those whose countries we visit.
…committed to making travel more sustainable and acknowledge that tourism can have an environmental, social and economic impact on the destination involved…
- Protect the Environment
- Respect local cultures
- Conserve natural resources
- Minimise pollution
We follow this by:
- Establishing our own policies…
- Informing our clients about sustainable tourism…
- Encouraging them to participate…
- Working with our suppliers and partners…
How we try to help
If you want to know more about what we currently do, go to our page on Lemoenland Pre-School and to the Cape Heritage Route and Ian who champions industry good practice through work with the AITO Sustainable Tourism committee.
Our Suppliers
Many of our travel partners have made significant contributions towards sustainability. We try to promote this on these pages. But this is not always possible. Typical contributions are:
- Move towards solar-powered electricity for all or some of their power needs, especially in rural areas
- Phasing out of single use plastics in terms of use of plastic water bottles or plastic bags and packaging
- Reduction in unnecessary water usage
- Commitments to the local community via empowerment projects.
