Tourism & Health Programme

CTOCarpha

The Regional Tourism & Health (THP) Programme

Link: https://carpha.org/What-We-Do/THP/Background

GOAL : To Improve the health, safety, quality and sustainability of the Caribbean tourism industry and thereby contribute to the industry being more competitive, sustainable & profitable
(vision for sustainable Caribbean development)

Strategy : Integrated Health, Safety and Environment management approach of combining training, surveillance, monitoring and response, standards implementation and research to address the critical link between health and tourism

  • Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) in partnership with the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) agreed to establish a Regional Tourism and Health Programme in January, 2014
  • Approved by CARPHA (Sept 2013) & CTO’s Board (Jan 2014)
  • Launch, Awareness and Discussion Workshop, Aruba, May 2014
  • CTO, CHTA and CARPHA MOU signed in June 2014, New York
  • Countries letters of commitment (7), April 2014 & April 2015
  • Partnerships :CDC VSP, CLIA, Travelers Health, PAHO, CDC, PHAC
  • Resource Mobilization, Awareness Raising, Program Development

Objectives

  • Reduce illness in tourism and thereby promote increase visitor arrivals
  • To build a healthier, safer, better quality and more environmental friendly tourism industry – lead to more sustainable tourism.
  • To implement food & environmental safety, training. certification
  • To provide timely alert of health, environmental and social events, to support health monitoring efforts and stimulate a rapid and coordinated response
  • To promote a healthy workforce & reduce avoidable health costs
  • To increase awareness and promote mutual understanding and collaboration between tourism and health stakeholders to address tourism & health as a joint priority
  • To develop partnerships for sustainability of tourism

What has been done

  • Protocols & partnerships for Early Warning and Response (hotels and cruise ships )
  • Heads of Govt : CARPHA: Regional coordinator for PH events : Chik, Ebola
  • Regional consultations – Chikungunya (March 2015); Regional food safety and early warning and response (May 2015): CTO, CLIA, CHTA; Regional Coordinating Mechanism for Ebola (RCME): June 2015)
  • Public health Information and prevention guidelines (www.carpha.org)
  • Developed Food and Environmental Safety Assessment Training & Certification
  • Collating international and regional health, Safety & Environmental Standards
  • Health and Safety in the Tourism Workplace survey
  • Partnerships : CDC, CLIA, FTO, PHAC
  • Funding : IDB, country
  • Started : Barbados, TCI, Jamaica

National partners:
Ministries of Health  |  Ministries of Tourism  |  Ministries of Environment  |  Ministries of National Security

Regional public health partners:
CARICOM  | CDEMA | CCCCC | IMPACS

International public health partners:
CLIA  |  CDC  |  PAHO/WHO  |  PHAC  |  Public Health England  |  UN-related agencies  |  Red Cross/Crescent

Other related partners:
UNWTO (World Tourism Organization)