The glorious reality of sustainable tourism development

Jo and co at Ida’s home cooking (Picture: Greentravel guides.tv)

Bulletin number 3: Head gardener star of TV show: the marriage goes ahead: what will Janice’s mum do with the orange dust?

Jo Baddeley, Thomas Cook’s Sustainable Destination Manager, gives a candid view… of how it works in a destination – tourists and all!

Update from the field no.3
Well, so far so good with the greentravelguides.tv itinerary.  We managed to get 2 guests from the Kombo Beach Hotel to go on film today, they were really good, Marc was brilliant as well but apparently the star of the show is going to be the gardener! 

He can’t quite believe it… he wrote his name down for the crew on a piece of paper so they don’t forget it, then came back with another piece of paper with it in better hand-writing so they spell it properly, then with another one with his title ‘Head Gardener’ so they get it right for the TV!  Bless him.  It was also great that the monitor lizards came out to play…..they are amazing but apparently very hard to keep in focus. 

The local craft people were also in the hotel today handily enough so there’s some great colourful footage of clothes and crafts.   An older lady with her Gambian boyfriend came over and the crew thought she was going to ask them to stop filming but she made a big show of trying the clothes on in front of the camera and getting in on the act as much as she could!

There are not too many people booked on Ida’s home cooking tomorrow so I’m going to have to dress up and go myself at this rate, I might manage to persuade some friends, Pete and Libby to go for me instead…will get them a gin and tonic round the pool tonight and talk them into it.  Gill, Steve and Ben from the crew will do the honours as well with the Gambian outfits so it’s going to be hysterical and I really can’t wait.  Ida’s cooking is one of my favourite things to do in The Gambia.

I’ve been down to Sandele Eco-Lodge today to check on the craft project, I met with quite a few of the producers and they’re really excited about being on TV and will make sure that they look the part.

They’re all working so hard to clear a demonstration area, this might not be ready by Friday but for the new excursion it will be.  It’s so great to see them taking responsibility for their own success and they’re so proud to be involved.  I’m really looking forward to Friday, and the rest of the week to be honest.

I’m also very much looking forward to washing my feet when I get in, I look like I’ve got a fabulous sun tan, you can see the lines from my flip flops on my feet… .that’s the only thing that drives me mad over here… I never feel like I’ve got clean feet.

Am having a bit of catch up time in the office, making sure that the itinerary for the crew is still going according to plan which amazingly it is, and getting on with things that are happening in the rest of the world.  The internet and email connection is painfully slow at times though, anything over 1MB seems to completely throw the system, I’ve had to leave the computer on all night just to get things downloaded (not so good for saving electricity!).

The marriage went ahead, I’m not really too sure of the point of doing it to be honest but that’s just my opinion.  Maybe it will all work out in the end, who knows – I wonder what the new guests will be like this week.  

Janice’s mum arrives today, she’s a stickler for cleanliness apparently so heaven knows how she copes here with the orange dust that gets into every crevice.  Everyone has been sprucing the place up though so I’ll find out later if it’s been given the seal of approval….I think it’s a G&T round the pool.

Next bulletin next week…
Says Jo:
As part of my six week stint in the Gambia this winter I’ve been working together with The Travel Foundation, Sandele Eco-Lodge and Rupert & Lynne (our craft experts) to promote a brand of jewellery, crafts and textiles that will be recognised by customers for its committment to natural products and to a fair working ethic for the producers involved.

During the last 12 months everyone has been working very hard here in the destination to develop new innovative designs and products that will meet all customer’s needs and pockets.  The 8th December was agreed as the launch date of the ‘Guaranteed Gambian’ products and we were generously offered promotional space at the beautiful Gaya Art Cafe.  A range of buyers and other interested parties were invited to the event, resulting in some fabulous feedback and interest for orders.  Following the launch, myself and Rupert met with Anna from Top Shop who has shops at three popular hotels, she has become our first Guaranteed Gambian customer and is placing orders for all of our items within the catalogue.

For many of the producers of our crafts, this is going to be the first time that they’ve ever had any kind of real employment and opportunity to make a decent living from tourism.

The respect that will come from having this opportunity is something that I can’t even put a value on for them…instead of bumstering their wares on the streets they now have 3 confirmed outlets for their work.  With next year’s work focussing on marketing and building brand awareness of Guaranteed Gambian I know that the producers will really feel very proud to be part of it and to say that their work is sold under this label.

It guarantees a fair wage for their products and the time that they have put into making them.  The story boards of the producers will help to tell the story to the customer and bring life to the brand as well as awareness raising of sustainability as a whole.  We’ll be able to fully report on stats this time next year to demonstrate the difference this has made to the income of the producers.

I remember when I met a marabou (fortune teller) here the first time I came to do H&S 5 years ago, he told me that I would always come back to the Gambia and that I would bring wealth to people of the destination, I never believed a word of it, as far as I was concerned I was doing a one off trip there and never knew that I’d even come back.  As soon as we got the Top Shop agreement it struck me that this could be exactly what he was referring to all that time ago!  Scary that someone can know these things so far ahead of time

Of everything that I’ve done so far in this job, this is probably the highlight and the most amazing achievement yet.  There’s a lot of special people working on this project here and it’s such priviledge to be part of it.  I just wanted to share the good news!

Jo Baddeley is the Sustainable Destinations Manager at Thomas Cook UK and Ireland and has been in the role for almost four years.  She recently graduated from Leeds University with a Masters Degree in Responsible Tourism and was highly commended for her personal contribution to sustainability at World Travel Market in 2010.

Jo is passionate about bringing sustainability to life in destinations for customers, suppliers, local people and Thomas Cook’s own employees.  Making it part of an improved customer experience is the best way to get people involved.  Some of Jo’s favourite overseas initiatives have come about as a response to the Travel Foundation’s ‘Make Holidays Greener’ week and include ongoing children’s activities and promotion of new local products and events.

The opportunity to travel, to spend time with people and to develop an understanding of the flavour of different destinations are the highlights of the job.  Jo hopes to continue to encourage more and more people to become involved with sustainability and to enjoy the many benefits it brings.

Sustainable Tourism Report Suite more info : HERE