Responsible Tourism
Travelling with a purpose
Responsible tourism is not just about being green – it’s about ensuring a long-term future for African tourism based on partnerships and community benefit. We are dedicated to unifying our industry so that we can reap the rewards for years to come rather than decimate our natural resources and habitats for short-term gain.
As a nation, Uganda has curved well towards responsible tourism. There has been a great leap towards controlling the effects of the local community to the environment. With this great effort by the government, communities and travel actors, Uganda has been able to increase its share of the African travel cake. The Ugandan government has greatly helped in putting in place many policies which have helped in promoting responsible tourism in Uganda. These policies include; the millennium development goals (MDGs), promoting good environmental practices, engaging the communities in sustainable tourism development and limiting damage by the tourists.
Tourism certainly offers employment, but unless communities have ownership and tourism pays its way, there is no incentive for marginal communities to support or protect it. Try explaining to a hungry local subsistence farmer and his family why they shouldn’t eat game that has co-existed in that area for millennia, when existing tourism resources deliver no direct return to him or his family.
Tourism can have a lasting and positive legacy on the environment in which it operates. It is imperative that important stakeholders in the industry get involved in transformational projects and use their hospitality skills and knowledge to uplift their own staff and communities.
At Myler Africa Safaris, we are not only dedicated to creating our own conservation and community upliftment initiatives, but we like supporting lodges and portfolios that share our ethos. Wherever possible, we support companies that involve and empower local charities and community programmes in the interests of self-sufficiency. It is of paramount importance that tourism companies invest in the local community instead of bringing in hired help from elsewhere.
Don’t be shy, ask our people how you can help and we’ll be glad we joined hands to travel responsibly.