The Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project (KPAP) and the Kilimanjaro Responsible Trekking Organization (KRTO), an initiative of the International Mountain Explorers Connection (IMEC), have strongly refuted claims made by local Kili operators who told Tourism Update they felt marginalised by the NGO.

In that article, a local operator anonymously told Tourism Update: “KPAP decides who will get business and who won’t and they publicly tell the agents and individual clients that they shouldn’t work with companies that are not their partners despite the fact that we all pay for the licence under our government’s law.”

Kelvin Salla, Manager of KRTO, clarified: “Neither KPAP, KRTO nor IMEC has any influence on the climbing public or business they choose.

“We simply educate the public about the industry-wide challenges and issues. We provide a free, transparent monitoring process available to all local climbing companies who wish to have their operations and business practices monitored and endorsed by an internationally recognised and independent third-party NGO, which has been monitoring companies’ climbing practices on the mountain for nearly two decades.”

Salla echoed sentiments voiced by many Tourism Update readers: “If a company is truly operating in accordance with the local laws and best practices, why would they object to the transparency and credibility of being monitored?

“If they are truly paying proper legal salaries and adhering to the KPAP programme standards, why wouldn’t they take the opportunity to have this independently documented for their clients and business partners?”

‘Common exploitation and unfair practices’

KPAP was established to address what Salla refers to as “common exploitation and unfair practices occurring on the mountain”. Companies currently under the KPAP monitoring system admit they were previously unaware of this, he noted.

“In fact, most, if not all, partner companies would agree the monitoring programme assists greatly in improving operational efficiencies and internal logistics and oversight to ensure crews are adhering to a brand’s best practices.”

Citing anecdotal evidence, Salla said a company director was moved to join the monitoring programme after she witnessed an incident where the clients contributed US$11 000 intended for the entire crew but one of the porters told her they only received US$20 each.

International operator’s perspective

Travelife for Tour Operators and Travel Agents a Global Sustainable Tourism Council-certified, Amsterdam-based social and environmental sustainability certification scheme with thousands of companies certified globally, has included the KPAP monitoring programme as part of its requirements of Kilimanjaro operators.

A spokesperson said: “We are committed to promoting responsible and sustainable tourism practices. When assessing partners for ethical operations, transparency and fair treatment of local communities, KPAP under the KRTO, stands out as a shining example of transparent and inclusive best practice.

“KPAP's unwavering dedication to improving the working conditions of porters on Kilimanjaro directly aligns with our standards for ethical tourism – their clear and consistent efforts to ensure that porters receive fair legally required wages, proper equipment and humane treatment are essential to fostering a transparent and just climbing environment.”

Considering European Union and global Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive social and environmental impact reporting requirements, many agents now require greater transparency and accountability in the tourism supply chain, noted Salla. The KPAP programme is an obvious solution for agents to ensure ethical and legal compliance by their suppliers, he pointed out.

Lost income claims

In response to claims of lost income by local operators, Salla said: “If any company is suggesting they lost business due to KPAP suspending their partnership, we think it would be best if they share with the world the reasons why we suspended working with them.”

He said the guidelines for compliance are clear and consistently and openly enforced. “If a company suddenly decides to stop complying with the basic requirements of the programme, we must protect the integrity of the programme and suspend those companies.”

Salla also categorically denied concerns raised by local operators that KPAP is violating local operators’ rights to compete by labelling non-affiliates as “illegitimate” and that to be a KPAP member requires operators to surrender all their agent contacts.

“Partner companies are not at all required to surrender their agent contacts. The foreign companies listed on our websites, recognised as international partner companies, are the B2B business partners of existing local KPAP, KRTO and IMEC partner companies.

“When an international company supports and works with a local partner company as a supplier, they too become a partner company and are able to market, promote and demonstrate to their clients that the climbs they offer are part of the monitoring programme.

“It is completely voluntary if a local partner company and their agent company want to share this information with us. It’s obviously in their best marketing interest to do so but it is not required.”

Best practices

While the majority of operators claim to be adhering to best practices, it is well known that most are not operating with their own government-required TALA licence, Salla added.

“Sadly, many companies are not paying the legally required salaries and, other than our monitoring programme, there is no transparent way to openly verify this although one can easily identify this by looking at the massive variances in their public climbing prices paid by travellers.”

For nearly two decades, feedback from climbers is overwhelmingly consistent regarding the noticeable differences between KPAP and non-KPAP crews, according to Salla.

He said there are porters summiting in T-shirts and flip flops because they don’t have access to proper gear. Other examples include crew members who fall ill and even die because they aren’t looked after properly, tips not fairly and openly distributed to all crew members and inadequate food supply and sleeping conditions for crew.

“These are all the basic standards we address in our monitoring programme. It’s shocking anyone would question or be opposed to transparency of these basic human rights and working conditions.”

Increasingly, more local companies are approaching KPAP for membership, Salla stated. “We support them extensively to ensure their internal operations and logistics meet these basic standards and can be documented and confirmed accordingly. In all our years, we’ve only had to suspend two companies for non-compliance with our basic standards.

“We hope that all local climbing companies are following the law, government regulations and ethical best labour practices and are willing to participate in our free monitoring programme.”

More government support needed

Salla welcomed the statement by Sharon Paul, Marketer for Kwesa Tours, that local tour operators need to be empowered to make Kilimanjaro a better destination and ensure it focuses on sustainability.

Paul told Tourism Update: “We need more support in terms of financing and access to training so that we can compete at the same level as the bigger companies. We also need to encourage more responsible tourism – policies that ensure visitors understand the importance of respecting the environment and local culture.”

Salla agreed, noting that the private sector needs to work closely with government to improve the quality of service offered.

“We cannot run away from sustainability and responsible travel practices. We need to gear up, open our eyes and listen to market demands. To attract more tourists, tour operators need to expand their operations instead of relying only on safaris and mountain climbing.”