The City of Cape Town will host a two-day Responsible Tourism (RT) in Cities Conference from November 27-28.
The conference aims to engage the South African tourism industry and other stakeholders in a dialogue about moving responsible tourism practices more firmly into the mainstream. It hopes to result in agreed priorities and specific actions that the participants will undertake, facilitating closer and more effective working partnerships.
The conference is organised around four themes: managing tourism in urban areas for sustainability; tourism by design to improve local places; responsible tourism for inclusive cities; and responsible tourism in destination marketing. Speakers include Bekithemba Langalibalele from National Department of Tourism; Jonathon Hanks from Incite; and Jan Hutton from Deloitte SA. Heidi van der Watt, International Centre for Responsible Tourism SA will facilitate one of the discussions.
City of Cape Town Mayco Member for Tourism, Events and Economic Development, Councillor Garreth Bloor, commented: “Cape Town is a pioneer in responsible tourism. It was here that the first International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations was held in 2002 that resulted in the establishment of the Cape Town Declaration. This was the game changer and catalyst for our tourism role-players to achieve sustainable development through responsible tourism practices.” 
For more information, or to register, visit www.responsiblecapetown.co.za.