At WTM London in November last year the V&A Waterfront was honoured when they won the WTM Global Responsible Tourism Award in the Sustaining Employees and Communities through the Pandemic category
Hear what it means for a business to be recognised in the World Responsible Tourism Awards
2021 GLOBAL AWARD: V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa. AFRICA
www.waterfront.co.za/ www.makerslanding.co.za/ www.ladlesoflove.org.za/ www.justicedesk.org/
The V&A Waterfront demonstrates what can be achieved by a large scale destination business that is determined to work at using its scale and dominance to benefit those otherwise excluded and marginalised
The V&A Waterfront is a mixed-use destination on the harbour in Cape Town, "a platform that facilitates and champions art and design, to support entrepreneurship and innovation, lead the charge on sustainability and drive positive social and economic change." It has continued to grow employment at 3.7% annually through the pandemic. In December 2020, as cases soared, they launched Makers Landing, a food community that celebrates South Africa's diverse cultures through food. There is a shared incubator kitchen, a demo kitchen, eight maker production stations, a food market with approximately 35 flexible market stands, eight small co-op eateries and five anchor restaurants of various sizes. The focus is on early-stage entrepreneurs (start-up, aspirant and grassroots) with limited access to resources in the packaged foods, food service and catering industries. In addition to 17 small anchor businesses, 84 new jobs and eight new businesses have been created, 70% black-owned, 33% women lead. They maintained mentorship and coaching programmes, provided grants (R591,000) and food parcels R1.3m) and continued to fund Justice Desk in Nyanga Township. To support job retention in the SMMEs, they raised working capital to support 49 businesses, totalling R2.52 million, supporting 208 permanent and 111 temporary jobs and provided access to cash flow analysis and support and R20 million rental relief to their 270 tenants. From their urban garden, they have provided Ladies of Love, an inner-city food program that provides meals to destitute people, just under 6 tons of vegetables, from which 130 000 meals were served in 12 kitchens in two years. The V&A Waterfront might be expected to have a significant impact; it does. The judges were particularly impressed by their innovative approach and dogged determination to continue to grow opportunities for disadvantaged and marginalised communities.
At WTM Africa on Tuesday 12th they will be talking about what they are doing and why they take responsibility for making tourism better
12:45-13:30 V&A Waterfront
The V&A Waterfront won the "Sustaining Employees and Communities through the Pandemic" category in last year's WTM Global Tourism Awards. This panel is an opportunity to hear from them and ask them why Responsible Tourism matters to them, about why it makes business sense, and about their environmental and socio-economic initiatives.
Moderator: Harold Goodwin, WTM Responsible Tourism Advisor
David Green – CEO, V&A Waterfront
Henry Matthys - Snr Man. Social Impact & Food Ecosystem Head
Andry Theys – Executive Manager: Operations
This year’s WTM Africa Responsible Tourism Awards are being presented at WTM Africa
Monday 11th 15:30 – 17:00
The 2022 Africa Responsible Tourism Awards Global Stage at WTM Africa
Showcasing Best Practice in the Industry
A highlight on the WTM Africa Responsible Tourism calendar, these awards champion the very best work in Responsible Tourism on the African continent. Join us as we celebrate those - sustainability champions, changemakers, movers and shakers - who continue to make a positive impact and lead by example.
The awards aim to “discover, recognise and promote good practice”. These prestigious awards recognise businesses and destinations that make responsible tourism their focus to ensure they are discovered and celebrated, showing how they are cultivating change and pioneering creative projects that revolve around the wellbeing and sustainability of tourism and looking after the people and the landscapes that allow the industry to thrive.
Finalists
Come along to congratulate those being recognised
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