Varadero sets sights on the Blue Flag category

Varadero is hoping to join the Blue Flag Campaign in 2004, a voluntary certification process for beaches and marinas that has been underway in Europe since the mid 1980s, members of the Cuban circuit’s integrated program coordination board told Travel Trade Caribbean Tourism News Bulletin.

Varadero is Cuba’s number two tourist destination, second only to Havana. The Blue Flag Campaign, embracing 2,500 beaches and marinas in Europe, has proved an efficient tool for environmental protection, especially in the implementation of regional legislations on water quality guidelines for swimmers.

In the Caribbean, the program is run by the Caribbean Alliance of Sustainable Tourism (CAST) –attached to CHA- in a joint effort with the CTO and the Caribbean Conservation Association, the latter with pilot projects in Puerto Rico, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.