Smits SusTour Consultancy is a boutique, technical sustainability consultancy started and run by Samantha Smits. I help lodges and tour operators close the gap between international sustainability standards and the practical reality of running a tourism business in Africa.
Since March 2023, I have been creating simple, step-by-step plans that help businesses get trusted sustainability certificates like Travelife, Fair Trade Tourism, GSTC schemes, or Green Key. I help you move past uncertainty, greenwashing, or keeping quiet about your green efforts (greenhushing).
Most importantly, I protect your business from losing international travel agents. Your agents' home governments are introducing very strict new sustainability laws that can result in heavy fines for them. Because you are in their African supply chain, if you cannot share any sustainability measures, these overseas partners will find someone else who isn't a business risk. I help you keep your doors open to, for example, the EU market.
As a Dutch professional living and working in Tanzania, I offer a unique combination of European compliance knowledge and African operational experience.
The Sustainability Edge: Your Tourism Podcast has just released its 25th episode. Hosted by ATTA® member Samantha Smits, the show looks at how sustainability protects a tourism business's profit, reputation, and yes, sanity.
Serengeti Balloon Safaris, the pioneering hot air balloon operator flying guests over Tanzania's Serengeti National Park since 1989, is among the first hot air balloon operators worldwide, and the first in Tanzania, to achieve Travelife Certified status.
The Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project (KPAP) is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the working conditions of the porters on Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. These porters play a crucial role in assisting climbers to reach the summit, carrying equipment, food, and personal belongings through the challenging and often harsh conditions of the mountain. Despite their essential contributions, porters have historically faced poor working conditions, including inadequate wages, insufficient clothing and equipment, and a lack of proper shelter and food.
Philikili is a charitable organisation supporting children in Tanzania who have lost parental care, experienced unsafe situations or are affected by extreme poverty. The organisation focuses on creating long term opportunities for the children it supports in two key areas: education and nutrition, with as extra projects infrastructure and excursions. This includes providing access to private schools, supporting balanced nutrition, improving safe and dignified living spaces, and creating opportunities for children to experience new places and activities, helping them to grow, learn and build a future beyond poverty. The Tanzanian manager, social worker, teachers and caregivers are at the core of planning and implementing its projects. The organisation knows the children it supports over many years and places their wellbeing at the centre of its work.
The Small Things is a non-profit organisation based in Nkoaranga, in the Meru district of Tanzania, dedicated to supporting orphaned and vulnerable children and their families. Founded in 2010 in partnership with local caregiver Mama Pendo, the organisation runs a Children's Village, a daycare and pre-primary school, and a family reunification programme that includes entrepreneurship training and microfinance support. Unlike traditional orphanages, their model is built around keeping children connected to family and community rather than raising them in institutional care, using reunification and economic support to address the root causes that separate families in the first place.
The Small Things takes a long-term, holistic approach to child welfare, currently supporting over 130 vulnerable children and families. Their focus on family preservation over institutionalisation means children grow up embedded in their own communities and cultures, with education, economic empowerment, and ongoing support giving families a real path to staying together.
The WAMBOMA Women Enterprise is a women-led social enterprise in the Kilimanjaro region that transforms rural communities by connecting marginalised women farmers to the tourism industry. Their cultural experiences offer hands-on farming, traditional cooking, and community connection, creating sustainable income while preserving Chagga culture.
Discover authentic Tanzanian hospitality with WAMBOMA. By participating in their immersive cultural experiences, travelers step directly into the daily lives of local women who are transforming their futures through sustainable agriculture and entrepreneurship. Every visit directly supports grassroots empowerment, giving women the tools and financial independence to build better lives for their families.
