TOURISM AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS IN THE AFRICAN CONTEXT

Abstract

The leading global discourse amongst development partners for the past three years has been predominantly dominated by Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015 set new global development thinking and an ambitious target for the global scene run up to 2030. Tourism, as one of the central industries to global development, proclaimed 2017 as a year of Sustainable Tourism to rally the tourism industry towards the common global agenda in a manner that tackles the global challenges. There has been an acknowledgement that even though Agenda 2030 does not put tourism at the forefront of addressing the SDGs, the industry can help address most if not all the SDGs. This qualitative research paper makes use of various selected case studies selected from the southern African region chosen randomly to highlight how tourism can assist in meeting SDGs. Drawing lessons from various cases, which include a review of the tourism organisation's annual reports and SDG Voluntary National Review Reports, highlights that in most developed and developing countries tourism has been identified as a remedy for achieving SDGs. The study found that given the nature and scope of the industry, tourism has a critical interest in the meeting of SDGs as an environmentally sensitive industry. The research argues that for tourism to be an effective vehicle for achieving SDGs, there is a need for a collaborative approach that includes various stakeholders, including academics, as the issue of SDGs is not well understood amongst tourism stakeholders, which reduces the impetus and attainment of the global goals. Such collaborative effort in the spirit of leaving no one behind will propel the industry on a sustainable path.