RECOSAFPromoting Solidarity Tourism in CameroonRéseau des Compétences sans frontières (RECOSAF) Start: 1994 Field of action: Cameroon Tourism has long been considered a passport for development. In some forms, it can be a strong driving force for the economy (foreign currency contribution, job creation, improvement of the balance of trade, stimulation of investments, support for local services, added value to natural and cultural resources, etc.). Nonetheless, most often the countries of the North (airline companies, tour operators and hotel chains) remain the principal beneficiaries and only a small minority of the local population are able to benefit. The positive effects are sometimes largely offset by considerable negative destructuring effects (exploitation of local manpower, pressure on fragile ecosystems, especially coastal, competition for use of scarce resources, in particular water, etc.). The aim of fair and solidarity tourism is to connect tourist activity to other human activities. The priority applies as much to the local economy as it does to tourist satisfaction. The local potential, the use of local products and the employment of local manpower are valued. By organizing itself well, the rural world can purport to capture some of the earnings. Context: Solidarity Tourism in CameroonThe Réseau des Compétences Sans Frontières (RECOSAF – network of competences without borders), supported by development professionals, is at the origin of the fair and solidarity tourism project in Cameroon. It is seeking to diversify, innovate and develop local resources so that tourism benefits the rural and urban communities. The members of Recosaf organized awareness-raising meetings to explain the opportunities (finance and culture as well as patrimony) that there are to organize a tourist project. Because the local leaders demonstrated interest, the people followed and the activity started in 2003 thanks to the meeting of the technical partners at FITS[1] (international colloquium on fair trade) and the stay of the Canadian volunteer sent by Horizon Cosmopolite[2]. Recosaf is a member of BITS[3] (Bureau international de tourisme social – International Bureau of Social Tourism), an organization that defends the rights to leisure, holidays and tourism. BITS unites associations active in more than 35 countries. Support from the Fair Trade CentreThe project is being run in Cameroon’s West Province where invaluable cultural treasures, art, ancient and varied handicraft, numerous natural sites, and a diversified flora and fauna abound. The project will lead to organizing thematic tours, creating a network of tourist village campgrounds (TVC) with facilities for lodging and catering, around which various additional activities can be set up, like handicraft, or cultural or agropastoral fairs, and so on. The financial returns generated by tourism will allow financing micro-projects to develop the villages, whether in the fields of health, infrastructure or education and training. There is no lack of activities provided in the first phase of the project co-financed by the Fair Trade Centre: inventory of cultural attractions and natural sites, design of tourist products, fitting out of places of interest, training sessions for guides and the public at the welcome centre, support for management of bed and breakfasts, and so on. The second phase consists in promoting Recosaf solidarity tourism products. Communication tools (website, folders, CD-ROM, etc.) must be designed and produced. Recosaf also attends trade shows, salons, exhibitions and other demonstrations inside and outside of Cameroon. Moreover, in 2006, Recosaf was present during the first edition of the Tourisme autrement salon, the fair and solidarity tourism salon that was held in Brussels.
[1] www.ftis2008.org[2] www.horizoncosmopolite.com [3] http://www.bits-int.org/fr/ | 
