This Tourism Week. 4 March 2009. Brought to you by SOMOHO TOURS www.somoho.co.za (See below for more).

There’s one really thorny problem that comes from being both a tourism destination and a developing country all in one: the fraught question of gift-giving (yes: ‘gift-giving’ - definitely not ‘gifting.’ Terrible word).

I was reminded of this recently when Margit Gatzweiler of Cape Town’s Sikelela Tours sent me a copy of a mail she had written to a local charity.

“I deal a lot with overseas tourists. I have had several complaints that R5:00 is added automatically to every invoice” in certain restaurants.

The donations are ostensibly used for the care of street children - and, while Margit agreed that the problems the children face are dire, she believed that this was “not the way to go about [soliciting] donations.”

And I agree.

The charity’s response was - predictably - unsatisfactory.

“Dear Margit

“Many thanks for your email and bringing these complaints to our attention.

“[Our charity] exist (sic) because there are children on the streets. These needy children are on the streets because they hope to receive money from well-meaning Capetonians and visitors to our city - which they do. This kind of giving unfortunately keeps the children on the streets. [This charity] gives Capetonians and tourists a way to give responsibly.

“It is however very important to know that … donations are always voluntary. Many diners embrace the opportunity to give more than the R5 and some diners decline to give.

“We most certainly don’t want diners to donate against their will. All they have to do is to notify their waiter and the R5 will be taken off their table’s bill.

“Hoping this will ease your concerns and provide an answer for the diners not wanting to donate.”

Well, yes, but…

The company’s e-mails carry all the right registration numbers, and even this quote from John Bunyan: “You have not lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” But is it fair - and is it ethical (or even legal) - to add a ‘tax’ of this sort to a bill?

I think not. It’s a kind of involuntary purchasing, and similar to the type of scam - beloved of cell phone content suppliers - in which people are made to pay for something they don’t want until they instruct the seller to stop debiting their accounts (which they might or might not eventually do. But usually not without a fight). And it goes to the question of transparency - because most people are probably like me when it comes to paying their restaurant bills: I kind of estimate what the total might be (around so much per head multiplied by the six of us…), and then add a tip (if I want to), and leave it at that. I only check the bill item for item if the total seems too high or too low - so that ‘voluntary’ R5.00 that Margit’s guests have complained about would usually slip right through my cracks.

And John Bunyan might have had a point - although he would have done well to read Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon, 1135-1204), a philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, and student of medicine whose best known work, the Mishne Torah (‘The Torah Reviewed’) contains a remarkably concise definition of the eight degrees of charity.

It’s worth repeating (I found this English text on the Maine Humanities Council’s site):

1. The highest degree, exceeded by none, is that of a person who assists a poor [person] … by putting him [in a position] where he can dispense with other people’s aid.

2. A step below this stands the one who gives alms to the needy in such a manner that the giver knows not to whom he gives and the recipient knows not from whom it is that he takes.

3. One step lower is that in which the giver knows to whom he gives but the poor person knows not from whom he receives.

4. A step lower is that in which the poor person knows from whom he is taking but the giver knows not to whom he is giving.

5. The next degree lower is that of him who, with his own hand, bestows a gift before the poor person asks.

6. The next degree lower is that of him who gives only after the poor person asks.

7. The next degree lower is that of him who gives less than is fitting but gives with a gracious mien.

8. The next degree is that of him who gives morosely.

(I kind of think Margit’s problem lies in level 5, which is pretty damned low - wouldn’t you agree?)

I asked my friend Jauckie Viljoen, of Back Road Safaris, what he thought of all of this (Jauckie’s the President of the Mossel Bay Rotary Club, and also the brains behind Meet The People Cares - a trust that channels gifts and donations from travellers to needy causes in Mossel Bay).

“Well,” he said.

“My opinion is that it generally does not work to give gifts. It’s the old cliché of ‘teach someone to fish rather than giving him a fish.’

“My experience is that, when you give something as a gift, then it is expected of the next tourist to also give a gift, and I have heard locals actually ask, ‘Did you not bring me a gift?’

“That is the worst case scenario as people keep expecting hand-outs.

“In Namibia there was the case where an NGO gave the ‘gift’ of a very fertile farm, with the first crop planted.

“The crop was harvested and all the proceeds spent - of course with the idea that the NGO must provide the next crop as a gift, too.

“When gifts do make sense is obviously around special days - like Easter and Christmas, when children can be given a token something with a ‘soft’ educational message built in. Rotary is planning to do an Egg Painting Day with children from a crèche this Easter - and so the kids will get an art class as well as Easter eggs to take home.”

But Jauckie has recognised that people from overseas are often moved to make donations, and that this needs to be done in a way that will be meaningful (and up there at Maimonides’ level 1). That’s why, for example, visitors on his Meet The People Tours can buy bricks from a local artisan who digs the clay from the ground by hand, moulds the bricks one by one, and bakes them all in kilns he builds himself.

“You can’t very well take a pile of bricks home with you in your luggage,” said Jauckie, “so Meet The People Cares will store them and eventually use them in a building project on your behalf.” And the traveller gets a certificate saying he or she did the right thing, whilst the brick-maker gets the thing that’s most important even in the smallest of businesses - turnover. (And BTW, If you didn’t think brick making could be a tourist attraction - you’re wrong. Check out Back Road Safaris’ Meet The People Tours here.)

And so the traveller has “assisted a poor [person] by … putting him where he can dispense with other people’s aid.”

If you search the pages of www.thistourismweek.co.za, you’ll find other examples of people and organisations who’ve been doing great work to help tourists to do the right thing -

… and, of course, there’s the wonderful Footballs4Fun, which puts forward the idea that the ideal gift when you’re travelling in Africa is… a football (and if you don’t believe that it might be - take a look at this video I made about photographer Ian Fleming and his ‘The Ball And The Pen’ project, which is all about capturing the love of football in the townships of Knysna and the Eastern Cape).

Above all, though, these charities and foundations have one thing in common: they’re as open as they possibly can be.

And therein lies the rub.

Yes - tourism can make a difference in people’s lives. And - if you take just the examples I’ve written about in the past couple of years - tourism as an industry is probably in a position to do more than most to make that difference.

But it’s HOW you do it - that’s what’s all important.

SOMOHO TOURS & EVENTS

City of Cape Town Woman in Tourism 2009 nominee, Barbara of SOMOHO TOURS, runs a registered tourism company specialising in hassle-free, personalised tours for groups and individuals

“We offer exceptional value, and professional, reliable service for the conscientious traveller,” she said.

SOMOHO TOURS’ services include day tours; airport transfers; accommodation; incentive travel packages; tour packages for the local market; special events, exhibitions and festivals packages; and package tours for individuals, leisure, and corporate groups.

Go here for Facebook pics of their tour to the inauguration of the new Cape Town Stadium - and there’s a full description of the event here - on the Constantia Valley Association Newsletter.

Talking about the company’s experiments with Facebook and other social media, Barbara said, “We’re still taking baby steps to get out there and be noticed in the cyber world.

“We have lots to learn, and I’ve realised that if you play it safely, you’re not going to get anywhere.

“But this is a new year, and a new economy. The rules and the world have changed, and we’re basically all starting over - but we’re all in the same boat.”

SOMOHO TOURS’ website - www.somoho.co.za - is currently under construction, but you can mail Barbara at capetowntours@gmail.com, or phone her on +27(0)84 313 9570 or +27(0)21 712 2647 for all your transport, tourism and events needs in the Cape Peninsula.

Now go away on holiday - it’s in the economy’s best interests.