RADICAL MOVE BY UK TREK TOUR OPERATORS HELPS TRANSFORM MOUNTAIN PORTERS' LIVES
a.. 39 out of 80 UK trekking tour operators contacted by Tourism Concern now have porter protection policies. b.. ITV Survivor's £1 million winner, Jonny Gibb shocked to see portersdie of cold with only flip flops for protection, backs Tourism Concern campaign c.. Trekkers encouraged to choose trekking operators committed to protecting porters d.. Mountaineers Doug Scott and Dr. Jim Duff encouraged by campaign Tourism Concern's campaign Trekking Wrongs:Porters' Rights has triggered a dramatic increase in the number of UK 'porter-friendly' trek operators. The campaign has prompted action amongst British trekking operators to protect porters used by their trips. Tourism Concern has worked specifically with operators taking treks to the Himalayas, Macchu Pichu in Peru and Kilimanjaro in Tanzania where the worst conditions are found. Porters in mountain regions frequently earn as little as £2 a day, carrying loads of up to 60 kg of trekking equipment, without boots or jackets andare often left to sleep outside. This is devastating when treks go up beyond the tree line into sub-zero temperatures. Porters are four times more likely to fall ill or die on trips as trekkers from hypothermia, dehydration or altitude sickness. After such hard workingdays, porters often don't even receive sufficient food, sometimes even being denied the left-overs from trekkers' meals, particularly on Macchu Pichuor Kilimanjaro. In the most extreme cases, porters believe they are simply seen as "beasts of burden". In the words of a Peruvian porters' syndicate: "We suffer humiliation upon humiliation, and are treated as less than human... If we protest, we simply won't be re-contracted: we don't have any other employment options." A tour operator in Pakistan is even more direct: the way porters are treated, he says, "amounts to modern slavery." As a result of Tourism Concern's work, 39 of the 80 tour operators contacted by Tourism Concern last year now have policies to provide essential protection, fair pay and humane working conditions. Tourism Concern's message is 'Do go trekking - it is a vital income for trekking communities. But now please go with an operator who has committed to protecting its porters.' Scottish ex-police officer Jonny Gibb, who won the £1m Survivor prize in May this year - was shocked to see three porters die on his celebratory trek - and welcomes Tourism Concern's campaign. "After I won Survivor I left my job and decided to treat myself to a trek up Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain," says Jonny, who was accompanied by fellow Survivor contestant John Dalzell. "We assumed the cost of the trip included looking after porters and were horrified this didn't happen. I saw porters carrying our luggage wearing justflip flops or thin golf shoes, it was freezing cold. Three of them died ofcold on one night after having to sleep out in very bad weather conditionsand their bodies were put in a tent, we were really shocked. I was keen togo on the trip, but I wasn't desperate enough for people to die." (See Example notes for more information) In November last year, Tourism Concern contacted UK trekking and climbing operators that visit either the Himalayas, Kilimanjaro in Tanzania or MacchuPicchu in Peru, to find out what policies on porters they had in place. Tourism Concern was shocked to discover only a few operators with well-defined policies. Most said that they left responsibility for porters to the companies in thedestination country and did not know what would be done if porters were injured or fell ill. Few set guidelines on the weights of loads porters carried, wages or protective clothing and footwear. Suggested guidelines on porters working conditions were then drawn up by tour operators, porters' groups and Tourism Concern (see notes to editors). That so many tour operators have come on board to make such important changes is extremely encouraging, says Tourism Concern's director, Patricia Barnett (see notes to editors for list of companies). "This is great news, a move forward for the tourism industry. We are glad that operators recognise that providing basic protection is crucial," says Patricia Barnett. The campaign is also receiving a lot of public support, she says. "No-one wants to see people die during a holiday. Trekkers often assume porters are superhuman and can take these tough conditions. It's a myth, no-one can sleep out in sub zero temperatures without proper protection. The fact that these operators now have policies to protect the porters will make it easier for trekkers to make an ethical decision about who to go with." Doug Scott, one of the UK's leading mountaineers who also runs a tour operator business and is founder of Community Action Nepal, says: "Anyone who goes trekking or mountaineering knows that the exploitation of porters is a problem that desperately needs to be addressed. It's incredible that so few tour operators took this seriously before Tourism Concern's campaign. This campaign is a great success story." Dr Jim Duff, mountaineer and founder of the International Porter ProtectionGroup (IPPG), has just returned from a trek across Cho La in the Everest region, says: "We are pleased to say operators and travel agents are now farmore aware of the terrible conditions the porters were experiencing. We hope that trek leaders will now take responsibility for the porters and see they get what they need and that trekkers will be the eyes and ears of the campaign. There does seem to be a sea change in the way porters are being treated." Background notes follow Examples of the problem and progress: a.. Himalayas: Kul Bahadur Rai's story: Nepalese porter Kul Bahadur Rai was hit by altitude sickness while carrying a heavy load for tourists. Rapiddescent is the effective and simple cure for altitude sickness. But an unsympathetic trek sirdar (trek foreman) made Kul Bahadur go on, then left himto descend alone. Kul Bahadur slipped into a coma and woke in hospital to find that his frostbitten feet had to be partially amputated (see http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/campaigns/porters_asia_tanzania_peru.htm for more details and http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/campaigns/porters_photographs.htm for pictures). Early this year a porter in Nepal was found unconscious by the side of a trail. He had been forced to carry his load until he was unable to go any further, then left with no money to make his way down the mountain alone. PROGRESS: The International Porter Protection Group has improved conditionsfor porters significantly through having Porter Clothing Banks, providing safety education and building shelters. They are starting a porter rescue post in the notorious Gokyo 'death' valley in April 2003 - which will also help trekkers in distress. Nepali porters are now beginning to be rescued byhelicopter. Some trekking companies are beginning to put their porters in tents and have their food cooked by the trekkers' kitchen staff See www.ippg.net . a.. Pakistan has no such porter support. As Agha Igrar Haroon, President of the Ecotourism Society of Pakistan explains: "Porters are poor people and the majority work without proper insurance and without proper clothing. They get next to nothing if they are injured or disabled while working, and they receive no proper training. Foreign tour operators can play a great role in protecting porters' rights. They should ask the ground agents about the facilities they provide to porters before giving them business, and not just give business to the cheapest ground agent. Tour operators shouldn't try and keep costs down at the expense of basic human rights." a.. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania: Tourism Concern has received reports of sick porters being abandoned by tour operators, of porters frequently working without shoes or proper equipment, and of guides bribing the rangers who weighthe porters' loads, so that porters end up carrying huge weights. Guides choose porters on the basis of payments and bribes and threaten those who refuse to pay with no more work. Kilimanjaro National Park has described Tourism Concern's campaign as "a justifiable and achievable cause." Three porters died on September 17th this year. One died working in cold, driving rain dressed only in trousers and a T-shirt and after sleeping out all night as the porters' accommodation was full. Two others froze to death overnight. PROGRESS: A new porters' association and has been created, the Kilimanjaro Porters Association, which "has reinforced guides discipline as well as operators' discipline, as they are no longer able to bulldoze porters and havenow to threat them fairly well." a.. Macchu Pichu, Peru: Official guidelines for trekking the Inca Trail have been established, including ensuring a maximum weight of 20kg for packsporters carry. Packs are weighed by government officials before treks. Porters went on strike however, last September demanding regulation on porters' wages and a minimum wage of US$30 per four day trek. This May, 1000 members of the Inca Trail porters' union marched to protest that the minimum wage was not being paid. They presented a letter to relevant authorities asking for the good example of one operator to be replicated which provides appropriate clothing, the same food as tourists (rather than leftovers), respects the maximum legal weight limit of 20kg, and "treats their porters like real human beings." a.. (see http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/campaigns/porters_asia_tanzania_peru.htm for more details). INTERVIEWS can be arranged with Tourism Concern, Survivor contestants, DougScott, Jim Duff or tour operators. Contact Patricia Barnett on 020 7753 3330 or Beverley Cohen on 07740 625716. FOR PHOTOGRAPHS OF PORTERS IN GOOD AND BAD CONDITIONS: click here http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/campaigns/porters_photographs.htm NOTES TO EDITORS a.. Trekking Wrongs:Porter's Rights is part of Tourism Concern's long running campaign on tourism and human rights. a.. For suggested guidelines for UK tour operators on porters' rights andworking conditions go to: http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/campaigns/porters_guidelines.htm a.. For advice to trekkers go to: http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/campaigns/porters_advice.htm a.. The 39 tour operators who have demonstrated proof of their porters' policies to Tourism Concern and given us permission to make that informationpublic are: Abercrombie and Kent, Adventure Alternative, Alpha Travel, Andean Trails, Austral Tours, Bales Worldwide, Cazenove and Loyd Safaris/Expediciones (Tanzania and Peru), Charity Challenge, Classic Journeys, CommunityAction Treks, Dragoman Adventure Holidays, Exodus Travels, Explore Worldwide, Footprint Adventures, Gane and Marshall, Guerba World Travel Ltd, High Places, Himalayan Kingdoms, The Imaginative Traveller, IntoAfrica UK Ltd, Jagged Globe, Journey Latin America, KE Adventure Travel, Last Frontiers, Muir's Tours, Nepal Trekking, Nepalese Trails, Palanquin Travels, Peruvian Secrets Ltd, Ramblers Holidays, Realworld-Travel.com Ltd, Safari Consultants Ltd, Simply Tanzania Tour Company, Spirit of Adventure, Tribes Travel, Tucan Travel, Trips Worldwide, White Peak Expeditions, World Expeditions. For contact details of the operators go to: http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/campaigns/porters_operators.htm a.. Tourism Concern is a membership organisation campaigning for ethical and fairly traded tourism. Initiatives included co-ordinating a UK/Burma Tourism boycott, halting a tourism development in Nungwi, Zanzibar that threatened to evict thousands of people, co-ordinating an international network on fair trade in tourism, publishing The Good Alternative Travel Guide, thefirst guidebook on community run tourism and working with UK tour operators and the UK government on corporate social responsibility in tourism. a.. Tourism Concern is a membership organisation. Membership: £24 waged, £12 unwaged. Membership and resources can be paid for online or telephone 020 7753 3330. a.. For more information about Tourism Concern's work see the newly released annual report at: http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/about_us/about_us_annualreport.htm a.. Picture editors: Go to http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/campaigns/porters_photographs.htm _____________________________________________________________ Tourism Concern 277-281 Holloway Road, London N7 8HN T: 020 7753 3330 F: 020 7753 3331 www.tourismconcern.org.uk CAMPAIGNING FOR ETHICAL AND FAIRLY TRADED TOURISM _____________________________________________________________ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
