Full Text Available
Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.
Sustainable tourism awareness and environmental practices in luxury safari lodges
Sustainable tourism requires accommodation businesses to balance economic, environmental and social issues, taking into account the needs of current and future generations. However, despite the ever E increasing attention on sustainable tourism and the acknowledgement of the impacts of tourism on th...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Department of Environmental and Geographical Science
2016
|
| Subjects: | |
| Tags: |
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1867613219842949120 |
|---|---|
| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Logan, Alexandra Joanna |
| author2 | Ramutsindela, Maano |
| author_browse | Logan, Alexandra Joanna Ramutsindela, Maano |
| author_facet | Ramutsindela, Maano Logan, Alexandra Joanna |
| author_sort | Logan, Alexandra Joanna |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Sustainable tourism requires accommodation businesses to balance economic, environmental and social issues, taking into account the needs of current and future generations. However, despite the ever E increasing attention on sustainable tourism and the acknowledgement of the impacts of tourism on the environment, this form of tourism only represents a minor share of all tourism. Ecotourism forms part of sustainable tourism and is one of the most common forms of commercially focused wildlife management on privately owned land. Luxury safari lodges are expected to provide a high level of hospitality , luxurious facilities and exquisite cui sine . Consequently, these lodges consume large quantities of resources and are reliant on the adequate supply of water and energy. Safari lodges are also reliant on the natural environment to attract guests. Therefore it is prudent of these businesses to conserve and protect water, energy and ecological resources to ensure the perpetuity of the lodge. Furthermore, both the environment and society benefit from the conservation of these resources. This study investigates the awareness of sustainable tourism and environmental practices in luxury safari lodges. Twenty-five luxury safari lodges in Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa were approached and a total of six safari lodges participated in an email E based questionnaire and one took part in semi -structured interviews. The research reveals that luxury safari lodges are aware of sustainable tourism and its importance. In addition, they involved in a number of environmental activities in order to achieve sustainability. The environment is emphasized as central to sustainable tourism, stemming from the fact that these lodges rely on the natural environment to attract guests. Balancing financial commitments to sustainability was found to have an impact on certain aspects of the luxury safari lodges attitudes and actions. The research indicated two key directions to pursue to sustain environmental activities in the luxury safari lodge industry. Firstly, education and awareness of staff and guests is acknowledged as central to supporting and achieving sustainability in luxury safari lodges. Secondly, lodges affiliated with voluntary initiatives such as FTT and Greenleaf are audited regularly to ensure a specific standard has been achieved, thus maintaining sustainable best practices in the lodges. The research concluded that the motivation for achieving sustainable tourism within luxury safari lodges can be seen as driven by: the need to preserve the natural environment, the opportunity to reduce operating costs (increase profitability) and the growing demand for environmentally friendly safari lodges. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/19962 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:32:39.476Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publishDateRange | 2016 |
| publishDateSort | 2016 |
| publisher | Department of Environmental and Geographical Science |
| publisherStr | Department of Environmental and Geographical Science |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/19962 Sustainable tourism awareness and environmental practices in luxury safari lodges Logan, Alexandra Joanna Ramutsindela, Maano Climate Change and Development Sustainable tourism requires accommodation businesses to balance economic, environmental and social issues, taking into account the needs of current and future generations. However, despite the ever E increasing attention on sustainable tourism and the acknowledgement of the impacts of tourism on the environment, this form of tourism only represents a minor share of all tourism. Ecotourism forms part of sustainable tourism and is one of the most common forms of commercially focused wildlife management on privately owned land. Luxury safari lodges are expected to provide a high level of hospitality , luxurious facilities and exquisite cui sine . Consequently, these lodges consume large quantities of resources and are reliant on the adequate supply of water and energy. Safari lodges are also reliant on the natural environment to attract guests. Therefore it is prudent of these businesses to conserve and protect water, energy and ecological resources to ensure the perpetuity of the lodge. Furthermore, both the environment and society benefit from the conservation of these resources. This study investigates the awareness of sustainable tourism and environmental practices in luxury safari lodges. Twenty-five luxury safari lodges in Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa were approached and a total of six safari lodges participated in an email E based questionnaire and one took part in semi -structured interviews. The research reveals that luxury safari lodges are aware of sustainable tourism and its importance. In addition, they involved in a number of environmental activities in order to achieve sustainability. The environment is emphasized as central to sustainable tourism, stemming from the fact that these lodges rely on the natural environment to attract guests. Balancing financial commitments to sustainability was found to have an impact on certain aspects of the luxury safari lodges attitudes and actions. The research indicated two key directions to pursue to sustain environmental activities in the luxury safari lodge industry. Firstly, education and awareness of staff and guests is acknowledged as central to supporting and achieving sustainability in luxury safari lodges. Secondly, lodges affiliated with voluntary initiatives such as FTT and Greenleaf are audited regularly to ensure a specific standard has been achieved, thus maintaining sustainable best practices in the lodges. The research concluded that the motivation for achieving sustainable tourism within luxury safari lodges can be seen as driven by: the need to preserve the natural environment, the opportunity to reduce operating costs (increase profitability) and the growing demand for environmentally friendly safari lodges. 2016-06-09T11:14:55Z 2016-06-09T11:14:55Z 2015 Master Thesis Masters MSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19962 eng application/pdf Department of Environmental and Geographical Science Faculty of Science University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Climate Change and Development Logan, Alexandra Joanna Sustainable tourism awareness and environmental practices in luxury safari lodges |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Sustainable tourism awareness and environmental practices in luxury safari lodges |
| title_full | Sustainable tourism awareness and environmental practices in luxury safari lodges |
| title_fullStr | Sustainable tourism awareness and environmental practices in luxury safari lodges |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sustainable tourism awareness and environmental practices in luxury safari lodges |
| title_short | Sustainable tourism awareness and environmental practices in luxury safari lodges |
| title_sort | sustainable tourism awareness and environmental practices in luxury safari lodges |
| topic | Climate Change and Development |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19962 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT loganalexandrajoanna sustainabletourismawarenessandenvironmentalpracticesinluxurysafarilodges |