Tourism Concern in Action!

18th May 2010

Exodus are supporters of Tourism Concern and are members of ETOG (Ethical Tour Operators Group). We are pleased to report that following pressure from various organisations (including Tourism Concern and ETOG) the Protea Hotel Group has pulled out of plans to build a new hotel and conference centre in an area of the lower Zambezi

The selected site was almost directly across the river from Zimbabwe's Mana Pools National Park, a World Heritage Site and one of Africa’s most renowned game-viewing regions. As members of ETOG we felt strongly that this development was misplaced, as the fragile eco-systems of this Lower Zambezi area requires very careful management. Along with 17 other tour operators, we added our name to a letter expressing our concern about the proposed development. The subsequent withdrawal by Protea was covered in a number of publications, including Wanderlust. Our porters with their certificates

More recently, ETOG has written to all UK companies currently running trips to Kilimanjaro asking them to sign up to the Guidelines for Proper Porter Treatment which were first established by Tourism Concern and are promoted by the International Mountain Explorers Connection (IMEC). The aim is to raise awareness of the guidelines and encourage companies to abide by them. Recently the Project Manager for our own Porter Project in Tanzania went out to visit the classes that we operate for porters during the rainy season, and his report can be viewed here.

View our responsible tourism projects page here.