In the Caribbean, Sustainable Tourism is understood as the optimal use of natural, cultural, social and financial resources for national development on an equitable and self sustaining basis to provide a unique visitor experience and an improved quality of life through partnerships among government, the private sector and communities. This section contains documents, reports and studies related to research or projects on sustainable tourism development, at both regional and international levels.
- Tourism Awareness and Education Campaign
CTO’s regional tourism education and awareness campaign was designed to enhance knowledge and foster ongoing discussion on important opportunities and challenges to support Caribbean tourism development, including climate resilience, environmental sustainability and community-based tourism.
- Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development (STC)
The Caribbean Tourism Organization has been staging its Annual Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development, otherwise known as the Sustainable Tourism Conference (STC) since 1997. This Conference is part of the information dissemination and regional awareness component of CTO’s Strategy for Sustainable Tourism and examines how member states can design and implement sustainable tourism policies and programs, offering a regional forum for information exchange on the successes and pitfalls of national, regional and international initiatives.
- Sustainable Destinations Alliance for the Americas (SDAA)
SDAA website: https://sustainabletravel.org/our-work/
The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), the Organization of American States (OAS), Sustainable Travel International, Royal Caribbean Cruises Limited, and the US Permanent Mission to the Organization of American States launched the Sustainable Destinations Alliance for the Americas (SDAA) in March 2014.
The SDAA aims at ensuring that tourism within the Caribbean and Central America regions continues to prosper and achieves the quality necessary to compete effectively with other international destinations by promoting sustainable destination management.
Sustainable Destinations Alliance of the Americas from Sustainable Travel International on Vimeo.
- IDB Disaster Risk Management CCA
Regional Monitoring and Evaluation System for Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation in the Tourism Sector (IDB DRM CCA)
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), in April 2010, formalized the terms of a US$ 750,000 grant that supports the Regional Monitoring and Evaluation System for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation in the Caribbean Tourism Sector Project.
The project’s goal is the reduction in vulnerability of the Caribbean tourism sector to natural hazards and disasters, including associated adaptive capacity for climate variability and climate change. The executing agency is the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA).
August 2012 : The First Regional Meeting
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) sponsored project “Regional Monitoring and Evaluation System for Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation in the Caribbean Tourism Sector” reached a milestone on August 8-9, 2012 when the Executing Agency, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) convened the First Regional Meeting at the Pegasus Hotel, Kingston Jamaica.
The objectives of the meeting were to discuss and recommend for endorsement the outputs of Component 1 of the project, “Development of the Regional Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Framework”. Specifically, two main sub components were reviewed and discussed they were the Revised Regional DRM Strategy and Action Plan which incorporates CCA and the outputs from the national stakeholder meetings.The regional meeting also facilitated the face to face meetings of the arms of the project’s governance structure, these are the National Focal Points (NFP), the Board of Management (BM) and the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).
The success of the meeting was demonstrated by the general support for the Draft Revised Regional Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Plan of Action for the Tourism Sector in the Caribbean and the enthusiasm with which information, comments and suggestions were exchanged. Representatives from the participating states, the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), the Inter American Development Bank and the CDEMA CU agreed in principle with the revised draft (SAP).
The next steps include the finalization of the SAP and the movement towards national level adaptation.
July 2012: The SAP
The “Regional Disaster Risk Management Strategy and Plan of Action for the Tourism Sector in the Caribbean” (SAP) developed under the IDB sponsored “Regional Disaster Risk Management for Sustainable Tourism in the Caribbean” project is currently being reviewed specifically to incorporate climate change adaptation. This is part on the ongoing IDB sponsored project “Regional Monitoring and Evaluation System for Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation in the Caribbean Tourism Sector”.
The main idea of the SAP is to create a strategic framework by which the countries of the region can support tourism amidst natural hazards and climate change. If well adapted into the national development programme, the SAP creates the foundation on which the monitoring and evaluation system can be built.
Further information on the Draft Revised Regional Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Plan of Action can be obtained from the CDEMA CU: cdema@cdema.org
- CARIBSAVE
CARIBSAVE
CARIBSAVE is a partnership between the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) and the University of Oxford. The CARIBSAVE Partnership addresses the impacts and challenges surrounding climate change, tourism, the environment, economic development and community livelihoods across the Caribbean Basin, using an integrated and holistic approach.
View the CARIBSAVE Partnerships for Resilience climate change film series.
- Agro and Culinary Tourism Product Development
Under the OAS-funded “Gastronomic Product Development and Promotion for Caribbean Destinations – Developing the Tourism Industry Human Resources”, an introductory workshop on agro and culinary tourism took place at STC-13 in Guyana.
View Presentation by Ena Harvey, IICA<
The project’s overall objective is to build the capacity of Caribbean tourism agencies to enhance their culinary tourism product development and marketing efforts and to strengthen the linkages between culinary tourism and the agro, cultural and heritage tourism niches. This project will seek to build on the results of the (CTO, CARICOM Secretariat, IICA, OAS and Government of Barbados supported) agrotourism workshop which took place in Barbados from 19-22 September, 2011. The regional agrotourism strategy which emanated from it is being fine-tuned.
