Tourism is now one if the largest employers in the world, accounting for 10.2% of the world's GDP and employing some 200 million people. It contributes 7.1%(R53.9bn) of South Africa's GDP, more than the gold mining industry at R35.3bn per annum!

Against this backdrop tourism is viewed as a priority for transformation and poverty reduction. However, its potential is contstrained by the legacies of apartheid manifested in uneven access not only to markets and market knowledge, but also to business finance, skills, technology and other resources. These constraints have given rise to a number of innnovations including the Tourism Industry Black Economic Empowerment(BEE) Charter and Scorecard and organisations like Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa (FTTSA).

FTTSA is an independent non-profit organisation that promotes sustainable and equitable tourism development in South Africa. Its role within this dynamic environment is to advocate for a culture of fairness and inclusion within the tourism industry, and to help create the conditions for the practice of Fair Trade within South African tourism. This is done through education and awareness raising, and the facilitation of a voluntary certification programme that awards the world's first 'Fair Trade' label to tourism establishments in South Africa that operate according to practise of fairer tourism - tourism that respescts people and the environment and contributes positively to the ongoing transformation of post-apartheid society. The brand helps to translate our industry's internal language of 'BEE' into universal values and messages that make sense and appeal to consumers, tour operators and Fair Trade principles and criteria.

As Jennifer Seif, FTTSA Executive Director and Board Member of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) notes: "The Tourism BEE Charter and Scorecard highlight the need to include and advance black people in our tourism industry. The Scorecard provides a framework for monitoring progress of individual businesses and the industry as a whole over the next ten years. FTTSA complements the Scorecard by providing an additional incentive for businesses to meet BEE and related objectives. Importantly, the FTTSA framework addresses the need for fairer labour standards, which BEE alone does not address."