Eco-tourism Skills and Job Opportunies

Since 2001, SA College for Tourism (SACT), an economic empowerment training institution, annually trains young unemployed and unskilled individuals from rural areas in southern Africa in eco-tourism skills. To date 1,483 learners have graduated from SACT.

Tourism (specifically eco-tourism) is the fastest growing sector in southern Africa - with the need for skilled workers increasing.

However, unemployment remains a major concern in the region and based on valuable insight gained during a recent social impact survey, the need to link SACT’s alumni to the wider eco-tourism industry, to access more employment opportunities, is evident.

SACT therefore proposes to develop an online portal to best position itself to support the recovery and prosperity of eco-tourism businesses (specifically after COVID19) and availability of employment opportunities for its alumni - reducing levels of inequality, poverty, and unemployment prevalent in the rural areas of southern Africa.

Unemployment is a critical concern across southern Africa. Youth (especially youth from rural areas) comprise the majority of the unemployed with many lacking marketable skills and experience to enter the job market.

Eco-tourism - which conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people - is a largely untapped opportunity, which has the power to unlock economic potential for rural communities from transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs). In 2001, SACT developed a unique eco-tourism skills development (accredited training) and deployment programme (internships and employment) for rural youth from TFCAs in southern Africa.

Based on the social impact survey conducted in August 2019, this baseline study provided SACT with valuable insight into the lives of its graduates. The results yielded significant insight into factors such as current employment status (54% employed vs 46% unemployed), industry retention (77%), geographical placement (only 48% of those working, were working close to TFCAs) and impact on dependents (only 5.7% said they were supporting themselves – the rest all had multiple dependants).

The results indicate that the current SACT Post-graduate Deployment Programme (which uses Facebook to connect with graduates and help when vacancies become available) needs to be strengthened to serve its beneficiaries better. 

SACT wishes to expand the current post-graduate deployment programme to offer graduates (total of 1,495 to date) access to a Progressive Web App (PWA) which is intended to work across both desktops and mobile platforms. It would be an online Eco-tourism Skills Development and Job Opportunity portal, which will provide SACT alumni access to real time developments and opportunities within the eco-tourism industry.

The online portal will be designed specifically to provide linkages for the eco-tourism industry in and around TFCAs in southern Africa (spanning an area of over 1,000,000 km2).

The portal will be there to support the prosperity of the eco-tourism industry by providing establishments access to skilled workers, advertise vacancies, refer individuals to SACT for training (with the commitment to employ after graduation) and update the College on changing sector needs.

Through the portal, SACT graduates can showcase their entrepreneurship, actively compete for meaningful employment and internship opportunities, access digital literacy training, sector skill refresher videos, training updates and an opportunity to network with alumni.

Lastly, the portal will be used to measure a variety of socio-economic impacts by collecting robust data which will inform SACT course development and dramatically increase post-graduate employment.

Although SACT is situated in South Africa, it recruits training candidates from Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

SACT’s beneficiaries are unemployed, live in rural areas with no economic activity and/or development apart from that engendered by tourism. They are unskilled and lack the means of acquiring the necessary skills to compete for what employment opportunities exist or are being created by tourism.

At SACT, they are awarded full, non-refundable bursaries which cover all training expenses. SACT assists its graduates by offering them the opportunity to participate in paid internships, exposing them gradually to an employment environment.

To measure the broader socio-economic impact of its programmes, SACT engages with its alumni by means of incentivised surveys. The results guide SACT’s programme development to ensure beneficiaries receive relevant interventions to aid their socio-economic empowerment.

A recent social impact survey highlighted a need to strengthen the post-graduation deployment programme. The proposed solution is an online portal which will provide linkages between alumni and the wider eco-tourism industry (within TFCAs) to access employment opportunities. Linked to this intervention is the need to strengthen beneficiary access to digital literacy training, sector skill refresher videos and training updates.

SACT focuses on empowering youth from rural areas with the skills and confidence to compete successfully in the world of work by facilitating skills development and channelling opportunities for industry related experience.

Through the proposed portal, SACT together with MIT Solve will enable graduates to obtain meaningful employment, access to digital literacy training, sector skill refresher videos and training updates. 

All these efforts speak to SACT’s overarching mission which is to provide sustainable socio-economic empowerment to its beneficiaries and enable them to lead active, productive, and successful lives, counteract inequality and positively impact the lives of generations to come.  

One of the main challenges with software and mobile app development is their distribution to end users. Access to the internet to view and download webpages is costly and most users who work in the eco-tourism industry, work in remote areas with slow and unreliable internet. These users’ mobile phones are often not update able to latest mobile software versions, unable to download the latest applications or have insufficient storage space to run updates. Another important part of the solution is to include the geographical locations of jobs so that job seeker can apply for jobs that are within the geographical area and not have to leave their families and communities.   

Most online websites and applications have not yet been optimised to deliver  content for rural and remote access. So often job seekers (especially SACT’s beneficiaries), who do not have access to fast internet or the latest phones, are unable to browse or access job opportunities. They often also apply for jobs that are not with in their geographical reach.   

By using a PWA solution, users can cache and store/responses in their browser files for offline use and can then fetch content without having to re download the entire website. In this way, users would not be limited or constrained to access the portal and jobs could also be searched and filtered based on geographical location thus saving the job seeker time as well as data costs.       

A PWA is a type of application software that is built using common web technologies like html CSS and JavaScripts that can be delivered through the web. It is intended to work on any platform that uses a standards-compliant browser so it can work across both desktops and mobile platforms. It can include functions that allow it to work offline with push notifications. The user experience would be like a native application on a desktop or mobile phone. There would be no requirement for the user to install the PWA from digital distribution systems like Apple or Android stores so no need to sign into app stores for installation.  PWA can run much faster than traditional browsers and has the ability to work offline.  It is a lightweight application which uses very little bandwidth and feels faster regardless of the network.

Access to internet is changing and with more users having access to the internet though their smart mobile phones, it needs to be a fast and meaningful experience that works for everyone on the majority of desktop and mobile devices.

 Google is supporting the PWA’s development and provides beginning to intermediate web developers access to online training to develop PWAs. Example of one of the training videos can be found here https://youtu.be/17kGWJOuL-A. the majority of the progressive web apps training can be found here https://developers.google.com/web/ilt/pwa.

This is a cost-effective solution for developers to create a native-app quality web application experience that is reliable, fast and engaging.

Inputs: 

·        Peace Parks Foundation (PPF), principal of SACT, will provide Information Systems services and guide the portal development process

·        SACT’s digital literacy trainer will facilitate the transition of the current digital literacy programme onto the portal

·        SACT’s Graduate Tracker/Monitor keeps an updated prospective employer database

·        PPF’s marketing networks

·        SACT’s Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) team

Activities:

·        Design, develop and test the PWA

·        Re-design current digital literacy programme to be accessed via the portal

·        Incentivise registration and training of SACT alumni on the portal

·        Launch robust marketing campaign targeted at the eco-tourism industry in and around TFCAs in southern Africa

·        Generate SACT M&E incentivised social impact surveys to alumni

Outputs:

·        The user-friendly PWA is developed and tested

·        The current digital literacy programme is re-designed and accessible via the portal

·        Verification and registration of all SACT alumni onto the portal is complete

·        Industry marketing and registration of eco-tourism establishments onto the portal is continuous

·        SACT M&E system carries out incentivised social impact surveys

Outcomes:

·        Via the PWA, SACT’s post-graduate deployment programme is expanded for alumni to access real time developments and opportunities within the eco-tourism industry

·        Via the PWA, graduates showcase their entrepreneurship, compete for employment and internship opportunities, access digital literacy training, skill refresher videos, training updates and alumni networking

·        Via the PWA, eco-tourism establishments can access skilled workers, advertise vacancies, refer individuals for training and update the College on changing sector needs

·        Via the PWA, SACT will measure a variety of socio-economic impacts by collecting robust data to inform course development and dramatically increase post-graduate employment

Impact:

·        Youth from socially and environmentally vulnerable rural communities are empowered through accredited eco-tourism skills development training and consequent employment

·        The scarce and critical skills shortages in the eco-tourism sector are addressed by supplying skilled workers

·        Through the promotion of sustainable livelihoods, beneficiaries develop an appreciation for conservation and an interest to become custodians of and rely on, the preservation of Africa’s natural resources, thus linking rural community development and conservation through eco-tourism

To date (since 2001):      direct beneficiaries – 1,483

Indirect beneficiaries – 5,932

In accordance with statistics made available by the Department of Social Development - each trained individual can support at least four other family members.

SACT annually trains 104 young individuals (80 youth – mostly women – in the Hospitality Academy and 24 youth in the Tracker Academy)* each year in its one year full time skills development programmes, with over 90% being placed in internships, learnership or permanent employment.

It is estimated that in five years there will be 520 more graduates (on campus training) – bringing the total of direct beneficiaries to 2 003 and in turn supporting 8 012 indirect beneficiaries.  After the roll-out of the remote training pilot, SACT estimates between 400-1000 additional graduates.  

 * Hospitality Academy - vocational and management skills training for the hospitality sector

Tracker Academy - vocational training in the age-old indigenous skill of wildlife tracking

SACT receives 300+ applications per year with only 104 available placements. As such, it is a difficult task for SACT to select the most deserving candidates, when most who apply fit the admission criteria.

The current training model is restricted to campus-based training and thus cannot be used “as is” to expand and reach more recipients in a manner that is workplace relevant and suitable. In response, SACT has developed a remote training model which will allow its Hopsitality Programme to be accessible to many more deserving individuals.

The envisioned model sees the College adjust its curriculum, to host its trainings onsite at strategically placed hospitality establishment locations and will focus primarily on practical training to ensure that training is focused, specialised, more accessible and cost‐effective.

SACT has entered into a partnership with a longstanding professional who conducts quality training using a “mobile training model” and making use of the workplace as “training sites”. This agreement will ensure that SACT maintains its high quality and standard of training, without having to hire additional staff to oversee the actual training process in various parts of the region. 

Rollout of this new training model will take place in 2021, seeing a further 80 candidates graduate with an accredited hospitality certificate.  By using the model, SACT will initially be able to reach almost double the number of students. Over the next five years, there is great potential for remote training to expand,  especially with tourism establishments referring students to SACT for training.

1.            SACT does not receive government funding and is reliant on donor funding.

 2.            Risks associated with the proposed portal to be successful include: 

 2.1         The failure for eco-tourism establishments to recover after the effects of the COVID19 pandemic on the economy

2.2         Beneficiary non-participation

2.3         Beneficiary access to data and poor network coverage

2.4         Cultural readiness and community acceptance of new mobile technologies

1.            SACT has mechanisms in place to ensure financial sustainability which include growing its Capital Fund, Endowment Fund, and income generation. SACT has a dedicated donor community who are approached for funding. In the interests of best practice, new donor partners are constantly being sought.

 2.1         The proposed online portal - designed specifically to provide linkages for the eco-tourism industry (in TFCAs of southern Africa) - will be best positioned to support the recovery and prosperity of eco-tourism businesses (specifically after COVID19) by providing access to skilled workers and updating the College on changing sector needs.

2.2         To encourage high levels of participation, SACT incentivises the completion of its online surveys. In exchange for taking the survey, participants are given data or airtime (a valuable commodity to the College’s target market).

2.3         Using a PWA will cut data costs but still allow users to access the portal during poor network coverage. However, a positive outcome of COVID19 is highlighting the urgent need for access to data. The increasing “internet pressure” due to the global lockdown is seeing multiple internet providers deliver the necessary infrastructure to improve coverage, especially in rural areas. 

2.4         For the project to be effective, SACT will conduct a readiness assessment report to proactively gauge the strengths and weaknesses of the community to determine what capacity building strategies are needed to adapt to the new changes.

Full time: 1

Part time: 4

·        SACT enjoys access to Peace Parks Foundation (PPF) Information Systems services, GIS Department and Systems and Compliance department, who collectively possess the necessary skill and experience to guide the portal development process and where required, identify the need to outsource the services of developers in liaison with MIT Solve. In addition, PPF will grant access to their marketing networks via the highly competent PPF Communications Department. 

 ·        SACT’s current digital literacy facilitators/assessor will facilitate the transition of the current digital literacy programme onto the online portal.

 ·        SACT’s full-time Graduate Tracker/Monitor tracks and co-ordinates the deployment of graduates. In addition, the incumbent (who has been in the position for 10 years) keeps a prospective employer database up to date and maintains good working relationships with hospitality establishments and hotel groups

It would be both a privilege and honour for SACT to be in the company of the renowned MIT Solve team. With the support of its networks, the Eco-tourism Skills Development and Job Opportunity Portal will be equipped to support sustainable economic development for socially and environmentally vulnerable rural communities in and around TFCAs - reducing levels of inequality, poverty, and unemployment prevalent in the rural areas of southern Africa.

90% of SACT's beneficiaries are young women from rural communities in and around TFCA's in southern Africa. The proposed solution will improve the quality if life of youth (mostly young women) by providing access to skills development and job opportunities within the burgeoning eco-tourism industry.

The proposed solution will enable young disadvantaged individuals between the ages of 18 and 35 years old (mostly women) from poor rural areas in and around TFCAs of southern Africa, access to skills development and meaningful employment within the burgeoning eco-tourism sector.