The month of September is widely known as “Heritage Month” here in South Africa, but it is also the month in which we celebrate Tourism. World Tourism Day took place on 27 September 2024, and as a nation, we celebrated a resurgence in the tourism industry in post-pandemic times. As part of the celebrations, we were thrilled to announce a renewed and exciting partnership between BirdLife South Africa (“BLSA”) and the Field Guides Association of South Africa (“FGASA”). This forms part of an industry-defining, joint collaborative effort to attain the highest possible standard of professionalism and skills development within the specialist, niche, avitourism industry within South Africa. We are twitching with excitement as we join forces and work together to provide further opportunities for guides to develop their careers, enabling them to provide exceptional birding experiences.
BirdLife South Africa, through the dedicated Avitourism Project, has been training specialist birding guides since 2000. Over a period of 24 years, the programme has successfully trained over 250 expert birding guides from rural communities and disadvantaged backgrounds. More importantly, this specialist training has empowered and upskilled those who have been subjected to the social injustices of our Nation’s past, recognizing them as some of our most distinguished and skilled birders and making them highly sought-after among both local and international birding circles.
FGASA has set the industry standards of guiding excellence, professionalism, ethics and skills development for over 30 years. The association is a well-known, highly regarded, and respected brand across the world for all guiding and non-guiding members, and has, through its courses, trained some of the industry’s most respected and experienced specialist birding guides.
Ecotourism is one of the largest contributors to our economy, but avitourism (travel and activities centred solely around tourists traveling for purposes of bird watching and undertaking bird-watching-related activities) is fast becoming the largest and most profitable niche industry within the greater tourism sector. In a 2010 study completed by the Department of Trade and Industries, it was estimated that avitourism generated a staggering US$659.4 billion annually, with South Africa’s avitourism industry estimated to contribute approximately R2.2 million rand annually toward the economy. Fast forward 14 years and this niche industry has continued to grow at a rapid rate, both on a local and international scale.
The inherent synergies between BLSA and FGASA, combined with a joint mission and vision, lend themselves to ensuring that this partnership aids guides in playing their vital role of facilitating immersive, ethical, and transformative experiences in nature. Our organisations are looking to elevate the way in which guides can facilitate these experiences; after all, birds of a feather flock together!
Keep your binoculars peeled for some exciting announcements in the months to come!
Written by: John Kinghorn | BirdLife South Africa