Blue Flag Campaign Launched at Grotto Beach
Blue Flag South Africa launched its 12th season of running this successful beach certification programme at an official event held at Grotto Beach in Hermanus, Western Cape, on 11 October 2012.
Grotto was one of the 36 beaches, 4 marinas and 3 whale watching boats that received Blue Flag status. It was the 11th time consecutive the Blue Flag was awarded to the beach, making Grotto the beach with longest uninterrupted Blue Flag association in South Africa.
Other local achievers were Kleinmond Beach and Hawston Beach. Whale-watching boats have been introduced into the programme and two local boats, Whale Whisperer (Dyer Island Conservation Trust, Gansbaai) and Miroshka (Southern Right Charters, Hermanus), may be awarded Blue Flag status by complying with the Blue Flag for Whale-watching Boat’s Environmental Code of Conduct.
The event was hosted by the Overstrand Municipality and included addresses by Blue Flag Programme Director Malcolm Powell, acting Mayor of the Overstrand Municipality Alderman Pieter Sholtz and Minister of Tourism Martinus van Schalkwyk, as well as the awarding of Blue Flags and a flag-raising ceremony.
Grotto beach provided a fitting venue for the event as the beach celebrates its 10th year anniversary of maintaining and sustaining its Blue Flag Status this year. Additional colour was lend to the occasion with an impressive drilling display and thrilling rendition of the National Anthem by the local Working on Fire team andthe Zwelihle Marimba Band.
Blue Flag is an international annual award given to beaches that meet a standard of excellence in the areas of safety, amenities, cleanliness, environmental information and environmental management. In South Africa, the Blue Flag programme is managed by WESSA (the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa) and participating local authorities under the Department of Environmental Affairs’ Coastcare initiative. The strict criteria of the programme are set by the international coordinators of the Blue Flag campaign in Europe, the FEE (Foundation for Environmental Education). South Africa was the first country outside Europe to be granted Blue Flag accreditation for its beaches.
According to the World Tourism Organization, the international Blue Flag, which is now in its 25th year of operation, is the most well-known and oldest eco-label of its kind. Currently, more than 40 countries across Europe, South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada and the Caribbean are participating in the programme and interest in the programme continues to grow with almost 4,000 Blue Flag beaches and marinas around the world.
The success of the Blue Flag programme in South Africa over the past 12 years can be attributed to the commitment of participating municipalities to provide beach-goers and holiday-makers with world class beaches offering safe, clean and well-managed facilities. Apart from Blue Flag playing a strong role in promoting environmental education, the programme is also of national significance to tourism in South Africa as the Blue Flag has become a symbol of quality recognised by tourists and tour operators around the world.
According to Minister van Schalkwyk’s address at the launch event, the tourism sector is following a very positive trend with regard to international tourist arrivals and domestic tourism, and South Africa is now firmly established as apremier global leisure destination. Providing world-class beach facilities in a country where beach tourism is an important part of our brand is a great tool for marketing and offering international and domestic tourists the opportunity to choose destinationswhich have Blue Flag beaches will certainly help improve South Africa’s competitiveness in the global market.
The Minister also highlighted the critical importance of all role-players in the industry continuing to contribute towards the growth and development of the tourism sector as the third-largest industry of job creation in our country, and acknowledged the work done by WESSA with the Blue Flag programme which has impacted positively on economic benefits, job creation and improved environmental management.
Acting Overstrand Mayor, Alderman Pieter Scholtz said because tourism is playing a pivotal role in the local economy, Blue Flag beaches are very important to us. Scholts further said tourism as one of the world’s largestindustries depends heavily on the natural resource base.
“Attractive coastal landscapes, such as sandy beaches, dune areas, estuaries, and coastal lakes are major attractions locally and internationally.”
Overstrand Municipality has been supporting the Blue Flag initiative since it inception in South Africa eleven years ago. The Blue Flag brings a reliable guarantee to tourists and tour operators regarding the environmental quality of beaches and marinas. Furthermore, it has served to encourage local authorities and other tourism stakeholders to constantly enhance the environmental quality of their facilities, and of their destinations as a whole.
That is why the Overstrand Municipality despite budget constraints is continuing with its Blue Flag programme and in fact wants to extend it, Mr Scholtz said.
Source: Whale Coast Media