Country : Tanzania

Organization: Zara Tours

Year the initiative began: 0

Project Website: www.zaratours.com

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Geotourism Challenge Addressed by Entrant:

Quality of tourist experience and educational benefit to tourists, Quality of benefit to residents for the destination, Quality of tourism management by destination leadership, Quality of stewardship of the destination

Organization size:

Medium (101 to 1000 employees)

Indicate sector in which you principally work:
Tourism-related business

Primary field of activity:

• Adventure
• General tourism
• General destination stewardship/management

What is the goal of your innovation? Please describe in one sentence the kind of impact, change, or reform your approach is intended to achieve.

To facilitate attitudes of hope and empower men, women, children, and youth groups through effective stewardship of Zara’s resources.

Please write an overview of your project. Include how your approach supports or embodies geotourism or destination stewardship. This text will appear when people scroll over the icon for your entry on the map located on the competition homepage.

ZARA Charities and its website under construction, www.zaracharity.com/index.php, is a coordinating body responsible for organizing projects and fundraising efforts on behalf of our member charities. Our compelling goal is to help the vulnerable and underprivileged of Tanzanian society to escape the bonds of poverty and to provide these individuals with the opportunity for development, hope, and self-actualization. We specifically seek to address the lack of employment and educational opportunities, with special emphasis placed on helping homeless children. The Charity creates a partnership between ZARA Tours and its previous clients to work together in accomplishing these goals, with ZARA Tours providing $15/client to the charity and our other supporters providing additional donations and project funding. We maintain a staff to oversee these donations and ensure they are provided only to accountable and transparent organizations.

Now under ZARA Charity, the Mount Kilimanjaro Porters Society was founded by ZARA in 2004 to ensure the health and safety of all porters, while simultaneously improving the tourist experience through porter enrichment. The society created many provisions to guarantee minimally-acceptable working conditions, including access to appropriate equipment and adequate nourishment, limiting porter loads to 20kgs, requiring continuing education and language training, and guaranteeing set wages.

Explain in detail why your approach is innovative.

ZARA Charity is innovative for a number of reasons, including our unique operating model providing clients the opportunity to partner with our efforts, while providing an infrastructure to ensure support is being given to legitimate organizations willing to provide financial transparency and accountability to ZARA Charity. With ZARA Tours, the charity is seeking out new innovations to further eliminate the negative impacts of tourism while creating new volunteer and voluntourism itineraries, with clients adding 2-3 volunteer days in addition to their safaris or climbs.

Before founding the Mount Kilimanjaro Porters Society, there was no regulating body to ensure the safety and well-being of those porters summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro. Given the need for employment, these individuals were endangering their lives to secure work, being provided questionable provisions, overloading themselves, and not being paid a proper wage. The creation of the Porters Society largely alleviated these challenges, with members gaining from collectively organizing themselves in addition to being provided educational opportunities in English, environmental sustainability, and first –aid. The society additionally provides for legal services and insurance protection through a pool of funds managed by the organization. By centrally coordinating these efforts, we have been able to greatly reduced costs and challenges.

What is the origin of your innovation? Tell the Changemakers and media communities what prompted you to start this initiative.

We founded ZARA Charity in 2004 as a coalition of charitable organizations

working for the benefit of all people in the Tanzanian community, especially targeting the needs of women, children, and youth. Member organizations range from our Masaai Women’s Group and the Mwema Women’s and Street Children Centres to the Karatu Youth Development Association and the Kilimanjaro Centre for Orphans and Street Children. Our mission seeks to foster hope and create optimism in the community by helping meet the physical, emotional, and psychological needs of these impoverished individuals. Particularly important to us is the plight of young orphaned children living on the streets of Tanzania. From the beginning we have worked very hard to get as many of these children off the street as possible and to support organizations that provide them with the love, care, and opportunity they need to become successful individuals.

As many of our clients expressed their desire to help the causes they witnessed while in Tanzania, we realized there was an opportunity to greatly expand our charity efforts. Very soon we will be launching our new ZARA Charity website, www.zaracharity.com/index.php, which will enable these individuals to partner with our charity efforts, while ensuring that their donations are going to legitimate organizations with ZARA Charity providing the necessary follow ups and ongoing financial auditing to ensure long term viability and responsibility. Working with ZARA Tours, the Charity has also created new volunteer opportunities for those wishing to serve as well as new voluntourism travel packages, which add a 2-3 day volunteer experience with one of our member charities to ZARA Tours’ safari and Mt. Kilimanjaro experiences.

Likewise, the alarming issue of porters endangering themselves seeking to secure employment led to the creation of the Mount Kilimanjaro Porters Society. Would-be porters agreed to overload themselves with too much weight and regularly climbed without proper supplies and materials to ensure their safety. Many porters were being injured as a result of these conditions, while ultimately not being guaranteed a fair wage. During this time, very few porters possessed significant knowledge about sustaining Mt. Kilimanjaro’s ecosystem and habitat. To confront these challenges, we created the Mount Kilimanjaro Porters Society in 2004, with all member porters now guaranteed proper supplies and food rations when climbing. Maximum porter carry loads are set at 20kg, with ZARA Tours further mandating a 15kg maximum. Society members are ensured a set, fair wage, in addition to being provided free ongoing education in environmental conservation to ensure they are properly caring for the mountain when climbing. They also have the opportunity to learn English and are provided with first-aid training, all free of charge. The society additionally provides legal services when needed, while a small amount of funds from each member is withheld monthly to provide for an emergency insurance account. Money is also withheld from member earnings during the high season to ensure they have an income during our low season. Additionally, micro-loans are also available to fund worthy business endeavors.

Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers' marketing material.

Zainab Ansell’s love of tourism began while working for Air Tanzania. In 1987, Zainab created ZARA Tours, organizing safaris and Mt. Kilimanjaro climbs. In 2000, Zainab and husband, Roger, expanded the ZARA experience by developing The Springlands Hotel in Moshi. Soon following, the couple established two permanent camps inside the Serengeti and Ikoma Parks and in 2006 opened the Highview Hotel near the Ngorongoro Crater. Employing over 900 people, Zainab and Roger have built a company that has become the largest Kilimanjaro outfitter in Tanzania and one of the country’s most popular safari operators.

Describe some unique tourist experiences that your approach provides. Be specific; give illustrative examples.

Aside from traditional adventures, we also offer voluntourism packages combining volunteer opportunities at ZARA Charity organizations with safari and climbing trips. ZARA Tours seeks to add important cultural awareness and environmental sustainability components to our tours. To this end, we recruit and provide local guides who passionately share our cultural history and practices with our clients, enabling them to truly appreciate the beautiful natural sites they are visiting. We strive to create opportunities for our clients to experience the real Tanzania, offering a number of ways to interact with the Tanzanian people and its many unique tribes. We have recently launched “The Beauty of Tanzania”, a new range of itineraries focusing on cultural experiences and activities other than just the typical game safaris. These itineraries include visits to truly authentic Masai villages, as opposed to those established strictly for tourists, in addition to opportunities to meet the Chagga people who live on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, and the Mtu Wa Mbu farming areas. We strive to create these experiences for tourists in a respectful manner, ensuring minimal tourist impact.

What types of partnerships or professional development would be most beneficial in spreading your innovation?

Continuing to partner with more tour companies to help expedite the adoption of better working conditions and standards for tour industry employees. For example, the possibility of expanding the Porters Society through organizational partnerships to include all Kilimanjaro porters would be a great step towards achieving more humane employment conditions. Such partnerships would also boost the scope, reach, and effectiveness of ZARA's charitable initiatives. More partnerships with nonprofit groups and marketing with outfitter companies in other countries would dramatically enhance ZARA Tours' and ZARA Charity's contribution to sustainable tourism.

Describe the degree of success you have had to date. How do you measure, both quantitatively and qualitatively, the impact on sustainability or enhancement of local culture, environment, heritage, or aesthetics? How has it transformed or contributed to the power of place or demonstrated the sustainability of tourism? How does your approach minimize negative impacts?

An example of ZARA's success is the Mount Kilimanjaro Porters Society. The fact that previously underpaid, overworked, and poorly fed porters now have the institutional backing for guaranteed minimum wages, maximum carrying loads of 20 kgs., and sufficient nourishment testifies to the success of ZARA’s community impact efforts. Such positive social and economic impacts of these initiatives, as well as the provision for year round employment and the myriad educational opportunities sponsored by the company, serve to enhance the prosperity of our community as a result of increased tourism instead of culminating in exploitation. By increasing local employment and attracting capital to the area, the negative impacts of having to meet tourist demand are capitalized and transformed into beneficial activity for the community. Also, one might look to the example of the “Climb for Kids Expedition” which was a fundraising initiative founded in 2006 by a visiting Kilimanjaro climber who wanted to help raise financial support for the free Kili School sponsored by ZARA. Additionally, Zainab has also served on the Ngorongoro Conservation Board for the past three years working to ensure tourism does not harmfully impact this beautiful region.
Further evidence of the sustainability of tourism can be found in the biannual Kilimanjaro clean-up climbs in which porters and clients clean the mountain on their way to the summit.

In what ways are local residents actively involved in your work, including participation and community input? How has the community responded to or benefited from your approach?

Perhaps ZARA Tours’ most important mission involves promoting and facilitating community support programs. The Mount Kilimanjaro Porters Society helps maintain acceptable standards for working conditions and compensation for previously exploited porters. The Society elects leaders and contributes a portion of members’ fees to emergency funds to pay for porters' care in the case of job-related accidents or sickness. Other community efforts include the Climb for Kids Expedition to raise funds for ZARA’s free primary school, the annual Mt. Kilimanjaro clean up climb and the Ngorongoro Run and Bicycle Race to fund the fight against Malaria and support the Masai Women's Group, respectively.

How does your program promote traveler enthusiasm, satisfaction, and engagement with the locale?

ZARA offers numerous customizable adventure packages featuring different safaris, mountain climbs, and visits to the beautiful communities of Tanzania at every price level. All excursion guides are trained in first aid. Additionally, modern amenities and comforts include: hot water, fenced-in hotel grounds for security, complimentary breakfast, fitness facilities, TV room, internet access, mosquito netting, swimming pool, telephone services, and much more. Also innovative is ZARA's offering of "Voluntourism" packages where clients can spend one to three days volunteering at one of ZARA Charity's organizations after completing climbing and safari trips, in addition to our new "Beauty of Tanzania" cultural itineraries.

Describe how your work helps travelers and local residents better understand the value of the area's cultural and natural heritage, and educates them on local environmental issues.

All ZARA tour guides possess expert knowledge of the local culture, environment, history, heritage, and people that they share with customers. Additionally, the ZARA website provides a wealth of cultural background information, maps, and pictures about all of the destinations and local communities that the company serves. Guides also follow strict no litter policies and educate travelers and local residents alike about endangered wild, marine, and floral life. Conservation of these endangered species is of utmost importance. ZARA also encourages water conservation and respect for local cultures by not taking pictures of them unless given specific permission.

How is your initiative currently financed? If available, provide information on your finances and organization that could help others. Please list: Annual budget, annual revenue generated, size of part-time, full-time and volunteer staff.

ZARA Charity is partially funded through a $15 contribution from ZARA Tours for each customer it serves. We are working to create a membership program to give guests the opportunity to further support this effort via on-line donations. Three ZARA employees are actively working to coordinate the effort. We further host a number of community-wide fundraisers to support this organization and to maximize local involvement. The Porter Society’s (MKPS) annual budget is financed largely through membership fees and a small percentage of climber fees, and with $10 per ZARA client going to the porters. Many volunteers serve the society in elected positions, with two ZARA employees providing additional leadership. We are opening a car wash operation in Moshi to provide employment opportunities for porters during our low season. Staff-wise, ZARA Tours employs close to 1,000 locals, effectively supporting 4,000 members of the community who are dependent upon these employees. The MKPS employs over 700 porters.

Is your initiative financially and organizationally sustainable? If not, what is required to make it so? Is there a potential demand for your innovation?

Both of these endeavors are financially and organizationally sustainable. The Porter Society has a successful governance model, which provides democratically-elected leadership and constitutional bylaws. The organization’s current financial needs are being met, with membership levels continuing to increase.

As long as ZARA operates, ZARA Charity’s viability will be ensured. Currently, a membership program is also being launched while we are exploring how best to utilize ZARA’s hotel facilities to host volunteer tourists to come work within our organizations. Additionally, we are eagerly seeking out partnerships with other international nonprofits and outdoor outfitting company's to spread our message.

What are the main barriers you encounter in managing, implementing, or replicating your innovation? What barriers keep your program from having greater impact?

Our main barrier with ZARA Charity remains in the amount of money we are able to supply and the limit of our reach. There are so many deserving organizations that we would like to assist, while further increasing the amount of financial support to those with whom we are already partnering. As we launch our membership program, we feel confident we will attract a number of customers willing to participate, effectively reducing this barrier. The key to attracting these customers, however, is an effective and widespread campaign effort reaching, not just throughout the country, but also outside the country to make willing volunteers abroad aware of our cause.

What is your plan to expand or further develop your approach? Please indicate where/how you would like to grow or enhance your innovation, or have others do so.

ZARA Charity looks to expand through membership programs and the resources of willing volunteers traveling to Tanzania to serve these worthy organizations. Regarding how others can help “grow or enhance” our innovation, our biggest need is the advertising ability to get the word out at home and abroad about how to get involved, donate, or volunteer. Another goal is to expand the Porter Society by increasing membership levels while partnering with additional tour operators that will use the society for their own employment needs. We look to further increase the society’s educational opportunities while providing economic assistance and employment opportunities during the low season with new, easily manageable ventures like our car wash endeavor.

Contact Information
Mr. Bryan Pruiett
Consultant
Zara Tours
P.O. Box 1990
bryanpruiett@gmail.com