Cape Town's Woodstock in NY Times

The NY Times ran a lovely little wet-kiss piece yesterday on Cape Town's "surfacing" neighbourhood of Woodstock. It's located just beyond the central business district ("CBD") along Main Road, which also is the direction that the rail line runs. (Map from NYT here.) The Times calls Woodstock "An Arts Enclave" which I think is a bit of a stretch at present, but it is headed in that direction based on the number of galleries and creative agencies locating there. Whether many actual artists live or work there is another matter - based on what I understand, not so many. Regardless, it is a great area with architectural interest, good history, a racial and socio-cultural mix and good proximity to the CBD. The best fresh fish shop in town is in Woodstock, where I've been a loyal regular for years. And Heath Nash's recycled plastic lamps and other fantastic creations are just around the corner.

But enough from me. Read the NY Times article.

Cape Town's Woodstock in NY Times

Cape Town RT updates - Planeta.com video

A recent Skype video conversation with Ron Mader of Planeta.com, from 20 May 2010. Topics include the new Responsible Tourism website for Cape Town that's live (www.responsiblecapetown.co.za), and the recent sustainability award received for Cape Town's greening and RT projects for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, called Green Goal 2010.

Cape Town RT updates - Planeta.com video

Responsible Wine Tourism at Backsberg

Here's a lovely recap of our local Cape Town Slow Food convivium's recent outing to the Backsberg wine estate in Paarl. The estate is the first carbon-neutral winery in South Africa, and makes some exceptional wines.

And, I'm happy to see that the Slow Food movement in Cape Town is finding its legs at last.

A posting worth a read.


Aside 1: If you're keen on 'green' wine, there's also a world's first biodiversity wine route in the Cape Town area, just over the pass to the east in the Theewaterskloof Municipality (Elgin, Grabouw, Villiersdorp, Greyton, Caledon, etc.). It's called the Green Mountain Eco Route. Also worth a squizz.

Aside 2: There are also other carbon-neutral wine estates out there. Beaumont, in Bot Rivier (also in the Theewaterskloof Municipality), is one that I'm aware of, and I'm sure there are others (and others in the process of becoming so).

Aside 3: And, if you're wondering why all this 'green stuff' in Theewaterskloof, they're smack in the heart of the Kogelberg Biosphere, part of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere programme.

Responsible Wine Tourism at Backsberg

South African writers on South Africa

The Guardian (UK) is running a series of articles written by South African writers "taking stock of their country as it prepare to host the World Cup." It is an interesting set of short pieces that provide meaningful insight into South Africa today. The writing isn't even, but even this reveals much about the writers, which also gives perspective on the country today -- always helpful if you're preparing to visit.

• The touching insights of Slovo, stripped of nostalgia: 'Nelson Mandela came to Britain in 1996 as a testimony to courage: Jacob Zuma was here to inaugurate a brand'
• The self-absorption of Brink: 'I worry that visitors will ask how successful this democracy is'
• Grootboom’s naïve anger, tempered by intellect: 'It's fantasy to believe the World Cup will help reduce poverty in South Africa'
• The smug irreverence of Malan’s wit, less sharp than it can be: 'Every day brings momentous exhilarations and dumbfounding setbacks'
• Sachs’ well-earned emigration to the past: 'The fact that South Africa is a country at all is one of the greatest stories of our time'
• Wanner’s frank clarity, muddied with hope: 'I received a phone threat and knew writers were not as free as I'd thought'
• The poignant relevance of Orford’s careful prose: 'Working with these men helped me understand why South Africa is so violent'

South African writers on South Africa

Cape Town's Green Goal 2010 wins major award

Green Goal 2010, Host City Cape Town's environmental programme for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ has won the coveted Impumelelo Sustainability Award.

The Cape Town Green Goal Action Plan has 41 projects across 9 target areas:

1. Energy and climate change (Minimise the carbon footprint of the 2010 event)
2. Water conservation (Minimise the use of potable water, and promote conservation of water resources)
3. Integrated waste management (Reduce, reuse and recycle waste)
4. Transport, mobility and access (Promote energy-efficient and universally accessible mobility, and minimise air pollution)
5. Landscaping and biodiversity (Promote indigenous landscaping, and enhance biodiversity)
6. Green building and sustainable lifestyles (Promote environmental awareness, sustainable lifestyles and environmentally efficient building practices)
7. Responsible tourism (Promote responsible tourism for 2010 and beyond)
8. Green Goal communications (Communicate the message of Green Goal to residents and visitors)
9. Monitoring, measurement and reporting (Monitor, measure and report on progress with the implementation of Green Goal)

I was proud to play a minor role in the development of the Action Plan, and want to say congratulations to Sheryl, Lorraine, Stephen, the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the City of Cape Town, and the dozens of other people, organisations, companies and more who made it happen. It sets a useful precedent for future major sporting events as well as other major events in Cape Town.

Of particular note are the progress report and upcoming legacy report, which detail what was done and how, the mistakes, successes and lessons learned, and references to useful resources. For those involved in major events, bids to host the olympics or other global sporting championships, and municipalities, this is really practical stuff. The Green Goal 2010 team is already talking with Brazil for the 2014 FIFA World Cup™.

Halala!

Note: Download the Action Plan here [pdf], and the Progress Report here [pdf]

Cape Town's Green Goal 2010 wins major award

RT Week 2010 - don't forget

A reminder that Responsible Tourism Week 2010 is next week, Monday 17 May - Friday 21 May 2010. It's a great opportunity to network with other RT people from around the globe, to learn about what's going on, and to encourage the uptake of Web 2.0 tools and media for collaboration.

Chief agitator for RT Week is Planeta.com, and details of the who, what, where, when, why and how are at planeta.wikispaces.com/rtweek2010.

Participants from Mexico, Estonia, France, Laos, South Africa, the UK, Finland and other corners of the world are already committed. Hopefully, you'll be able to join in the conversation, make some new friends and learn a thing or two - those are certainly my goals.

See you next week!

RT Week 2010 - don't forget

Lwandle Migrant Labour Museum 10th birthday

The excellent Lwandle Migrant Labour Museum (LMLM) in the remarkable community of Lwandle celebrated its tenth birthday recently on 1 May 2010. I was out of town for the occasion, but happy to have been invited - but even happier to see this excellent recap of the day, its meaning and images of the restoration of historic Hostel 33 (still underway) posted.

Let me also give a shout out to the blog, hostel33.blogspot.com, for the great content - and particularly exceptional photos. If you want to understand some of the central issues that Cape Town continues to grapple with today socially and culturally in the aftermath of apartheid and post-apartheid transformation policies (which you won't see in newspaper headlines) this blog provides insight of note. (Bravo, Noëleen Murray)

LMLM is far too often overlooked, in spite of its uniqueness, proximity to Cape Town and the N2, and its mind-blowing pair of awards received in the past two years - 'Museum of the Year' in the Western Cape Province in 2010 (beating out the National Gallery, District Six Museum, and other major institutions), and 'Best Tourism Attraction of the Year' in 2009 (beating out Robben Island, Table Mountain, Constantia wine estates, the V&A Waterfront, Cape Point and every other place in Cape Town!).This is the real deal.

Do yourself a favour and go. Lwandle is a community located outside Somerset West on the eastern edge of the municipal boundary of Cape Town. Check out the museum website at www.lwandle.com.

[note: I've written a couple of posts in past years about exceptional experiences hosted by the LMLM. Worth a squizz here and here.]

Lwandle Migrant Labour Museum 10th birthday

RT.com 'hack' a hoax

ResponsibleTravel.com (RT.com) made a big fuss about their site being 'hacked', then taking the content from this 'hacker' and turning it into a 'Rebellious Manifesto'. I (and others) suspected this was just a PR stunt, and it has been confirmed as such. It was a hoax.

TTG reported in their 16 April edition that

The marketing idea was drummed up by founder Justin Francis

So not only was RT.com lying, but they also intentionally created the weak-tea manifesto, which so cheapens Krippendorf's call for rebellion that it makes me nauseous. 

According to TTG, the RT.com spokesperson said, in response to criticisms that their definition of rebellion was anemic, that they were

not trying to appeal to hardened travellers, it's an initiative to reach out to a new audience.

Well, they are going after a new audience at the expense of the grassroots of the RT movement and the authentic responsible tourism products, experiences and destinations. RT.com is just another corporate interest looking after their bottom line first and foremost, and now it's clear to everyone.


[note: a more thorough explanation of these issues and my analysis and opinion can be found here.]

RT.com 'hack' a hoax

RT.com, Goodwin and rebellion

[Note to readers: please be sure to read the comments to this post, which includes a reply from Harold Goodwin. In retrospect, I think my tone was overly sharp where it pertains to him, but I stand by the substance of this post. -- Kurt]



Just over a month ago the online travel agency ResponsibleTravel.com (RT.com) created a hoo-ha about their site being hacked by a so-called 'rebellious tourist'. They took the hacker's content and shaped it into a 'manifesto', which they posted on their website. They also created a fictional 'rebellious tourist' on their community website, allowing members of that community to become 'friends' with him. I wasn't alone in my sceptical view of all this being too tidy and feeling it could well be a PR stunt.

However, leading RT academic, Harold Goodwin, began to carry the torch for this 'manifesto' and the 'rebellious tourist', and I doubted that he would put his reputation behind a carefully orchestrated deception, even though he was a founder of RT.com and former shareholder and director. He posted RT.com's marketing schtick about the rebellious tourist on his blog and over at the Arty Forum without making any disclosure about his relationship or expressing any secondary opinion about the material - one could only assume he endorsed the content.

I found the content of the manifesto to be weak, the marketing by RT.com to be hyperbolic and the co-opting of Krippendorf's call for rebellion to be depressing. My concerns were posted here at Afrika T and on Goodwin's thread over at Arty Forum. No reply from either Goodwin or RT.com.

I was content to let it go as another attempt to exploit people's urge to do good for commercial profit, and that in this instance Goodwin wasn't quite holding to the "paternal distance" he claims to have from the interests of RT.com.

But it’s happened again: Goodwin has given us another shot of RT.com marketing copy on his blog. In it, RT.com has doubled down, owning the weak-tea version of 'rebellion' that's espoused in the 'manifesto'.

So, I’m back on my soapbox about this. I have two points to make in this post:

1. RT.com cannot lead the RT movement, and for them to act as if they do harms themselves and RT.

Unlike the Body Shop, who through their actions became leaders in transforming the ethical and economic relationships in the cosmetics industry because their customers put them into that position, RT.com is claiming that leadership mantle in RT through their own marketing and spin. Yes, RT.com is doing some good work and offer a useful commercial channel for selling and buying RT experiences, but they are still a commercial travel agency making a profit from selling other people's tours, products and destinations. I'll avoid a lengthy digression on the many differences between The Body Shop and RT.com (not least is that RT.com doesn't actually buy anything but is merely an agency for other people's products), but suffice it to say, Justin Francis isn't Anita Roddick - inspired as he may be by her and her work - at least not yet. I don't doubt for a minute Justin's/RT.com's desire to see RT flourish, but their commercial and profit interests undermine their ability to be the vanguard - it is just too self-serving to retain the integrity that’s needed in a leader.

In addition, by assuming this leadership position for themselves and then using their marketing reach (which is substantial - the Responsible Tourism Awards alone have Virgin, World Travel Market and the Royal Geographical Society's magazine, Geographical, on board, they work with Conservation International, Michael Palin, and other rich and powerful people, NGOs and corporations), they are able to project a dominant voice on RT into the mainstream of consumer travel and the tourism industry. When that voice holds forth such an anemic view of the 'rebellion' that Krippendorf called for, it makes those of us in the trenches (the ones actually working with communities and companies to develop RT products, experiences and destinations) quite annoyed, and on some difficult days, actually despondent. Is this what we're working hard to try to bring about - the hope that tourists some day will let the kids stay up late when they're travelling? And choose street food over a Big Mac? As much profit as RT.com has the chance to make by getting the Thomas Cooks and Hiltons of the world to go green, buy local and comply with minimum standards of sustainability, this is not the kind of experience that Responsible Travellers seek.

I'd like to see RT.com make a clear statement of their priorities: is their goal to take authentic RT experiences into the mainstream? Or to take mainstream experiences and get them to be sustainable (and thereby 'responsible')? I imagine RT.com would say that both are worthy goals and I agree (though I don’t view them as equally important), but the qualities that differentiate a real RT experience will never be found in a Hilton Hotel, no matter how Fair Trade their supply chain might be.

With their ‘manifesto’ and the marketing behind it, RT.com is driving a wedge between themselves on the one hand, and the RT movement, its activists and grassroots workers on the other. I've spoken with others who work at the grassroots level in RT and know I'm not alone in this opinion. The more RT.com creates space for the mainstream corporate travel interests to hitch their brands to the RT movement without fundamentally changing their approach to business, the more harm RT.com does to that movement - it dilutes the meaning of "Responsible", facilitates the RT equivalent of greenwashing, and it allows the rich, entrenched players in travel to elbow out the rising RT successes and keep them marginalised. Because RT.com's profit interests lie in getting the big players into the game they will be compelled to continue doing this kind of harm into the future.

RT.com has simply become too big and successful a company, has corporate interests and needs other corporate partners, and the bigger they get the less they’ll be able to resist the demands of the entrenched travel industry because they’ll need the volume of turnover that only the big guys can deliver. It’s not a bad thing – actually, I think it’s great that a niche RT travel agency can thrive like this – but it does mean that their role within RT becomes a different role. The sooner they understand this, the sooner they’ll stop embarrassing themselves with this kind of 'rebel manifesto' antic – and stop harming grassroots RT around the world.

And, my second point:

2. Actual leaders of the RT movement need to declare their interests more clearly and consistently.

In my opinion, Goodwin is undermining his standing by using his blog to distribute RT.com's marketing messages without attribution, comment or critical analysis. I'm sure he's not the only one who engages in such behaviour, and I don't mean to lump all these ills onto his head, but it is the second time now in under two months that he's done this and I hope that by using him as an instance of such conduct the point is made more broadly as well.

The RT business is already complex enough: academic research, conferences, consulting assignments, NGOs, post-graduate students and commercial interests are in a tangle. Former students go on to launch companies that engage former professors to consult - or to become directors. Other students do consulting work and advise their clients to attend conferences hosted by former professors. Destinations and companies hire academics to consult to them and those academics then publish research that promotes those destinations and companies. Consultants are appointed as adjunct or visiting researchers and publish as if they were academics. Companies fund NGOs who hire consultants to work on projects that are expected to benefit the company. The same thing happens with academic research funding.

This is the academic-consulting-NGO industrial complex, and by no means is it unique to Goodwin's ICRT alumni network or to RT. Nor is it always a problem. But the credible voices are those who disclose their interests. Just as the whole RT.com ‘hacking’ story has the whiff of spin to it, when an academic simply re-posts the marketing material of a company without attribution, comment or critical analysis it has the whiff of impropriety about it (especially when that academic is a former shareholder and director). He or she appears compromised, regardless of intention.

I want to add that Goodwin, in the bio on his blog, has, in fact, declared that he was formerly a shareholder and director of RT.com:

“Harold Goodwin co-founded ResponsibleTravel.com with Justin Francis, although he is no longer a shareholder or director he watches the development of the company with paternal interest and distance.”

Does posting verbatim the marketing material of RT.com without attribution, comment or critical analysis maintain this standard of “sufficient distance”? I don’t think so, and I think it’s important enough an issue to call him on it publicly – it’s happened twice now within the space of six weeks.

I should also add that I have respect for Goodwin’s work, and for what it’s worth I haven’t met him face to face (a brief e-mail exchange and Arty Forum posts are the extent of our communication). If only he would provide some context and attribution when he posts RT.com’s stuff on his blog – it is his blog, after all, and he can post whatever he wants – it would be a major step in addressing this problem.


To conclude, I believe that RT is becoming big enough business that the kind of scrutiny RT advocates have turned on the travel industry needs to be turned onto RT itself. Questions of credibility, conflict of interest, verification of claims and profit motives need to be raised more frequently, answers insisted upon and those answers interrogated. This one instance of 'hacking', a 'manifesto' and undeclared 'paternal interest' may seem like a minor matter, but I believe it highlights the much more fundamental issues and shifts happening in RT outlined above. I don't think we ought to wait for a serious scandal to come to light before we engage in these kinds of difficult discussions.


[note: for those who feel that the word 'movement' is problematic when applied to RT, I would disagree and so would Goodwin. He describes himself as having "10 years experience of developing the movement for Responsible Tourism working with companies, national and local government to realise the aspiration of making better places for people to live in, and better places for people to visit."]

RT.com, Goodwin and rebellion