Caribbean Ministers, Experts Meet in Havana to Find Ways for Sustainable Tourism

Jean Holder, president of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and Ruben Silie, secretary-general of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) are chairing the Sixth Annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism that’s taking place this week in Havana with a view to assess ways leading to the development of that travel variant.

Under a slogan reading “Keeping the Right Balance: An Encounter between the Land and the Sea,” some 200 delegates –including tourism ministers and experts from the region- will be huddling at the Havana Libre-Tryp Hotel from April 27 through 30 with the presence of Gabor Vereczi, chief of the Sustainable Tourism Development Program of the World Tourism Organization (WTO).

Physical Planning is the opening topic of discussion in which attendants are trying to strike a balance between development on the ground and preservation under the sea. This issue counts on presentations by a number of Cuban experts.

Integrated Planning comes next and in this particular matter experts agree it should be used as a key tool in achieving sustainable development at its best. A standout paper on this topic is being presented by Dr. Atherton Martin, executive director of the Dominique Development Institute.

”Inhabitants of the Land and the Sea: Establishing Strategic Alliances for Common Benefit,” “International Guidelines for the Handling of Marine Ecosystem Tourism,” “Balancing Benefits between Sea Turtles and Hoteliers,” and “National Environmental Strategy: A Stronghold for Cuba’s Tourism Development” are some of the topics on the table.

The conference is seen as “a window of opportunity for interest groups to learn about the past, to build the present and plan the future,” organizers of the event indicated.

The meeting provides the basis for fruitful exchanges on both achievements and drawbacks faced by each and every country in the region in making their own initiatives on a regional and global scope. At the same time, the powwow will offer ways and forms to be adopted by the WTO and ACS member states in designing and implementing both policies and programs.

The Caribbean Special Committee on Sustainable Tourism seeks to put destinations in better position to lure visitors without causing any harm whatsoever to the surrounding environment and local communities. That suggestion is included in the Agreement on the Establishment of a Sustainable Tourism Zone that was signed back in December 2001.

Alongside the annual conference, attendants will be holding lectures and workshops, technical visits and a grand tour around Old Havana in order to take a firsthand look at the restoration project of the Historic Center of the island nation’s capital, declared Heritage of Mankind by UNESCO in 1982.

In the same breath, participants will conduct visits to the Terrazas in Sierra del Rosario to see the sustainability concept developed in that gorgeous location of the Pinar del Rio province. Also in Cuba’s westernmost province, attendants will feast their eyes on beautiful Viñales Valley and will be briefed on this area’s prospects as far as sustainable tourism is concerned.

The agenda also includes a trip to breathtaking Varadero Beach, some 89 miles east of Havana, for visitors to take a glimpse at some of the programs developed there over the last decade.

The opening speech was delivered by Dr. Anjan Datta of the United Nations Environmental Program and the Office of Marine Environmental Protection from Ground-based Activities, a body headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands.

During the closing ceremony on April 30, attendants will hear a presentation by Trinidad & Tobago, the host country for next year’s Annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism.