Increasing recognition
of
benefits
of
responsible travel
STC-14 Issue 2
Highlights:
Demand for ST increases
Study Tours meets expectation
There
is
increasing
recognition among both
travel professionals and Guyana has done it again
consumers
of
the
importance of responsible Rural Tourism sustainable, says
travel.
experts
Co-director at the Centre
for Responsible Travel
(CREST), Dr. Martha CTO TV
Honey, made this point during a presentation
titled ‘The Case for Responsible Travel: Trends
& Statistics’ at the 14th annual Sustainable
Conference
(STC-14).
Dr. Honey cited a CREST Meta-Analysis which
has found “strong evidence” that sustainable
travel is “good for the economic bottom line.”
She also noted that the tourism sector was
embracing responsible tourism not as an option,
but as a condition for its continuous growth,
pointing to numerous survey findings to support
this.
A 2012 Nielson Wire survey, she said, found that
66 per cent of consumers globally prefer to buy
products and services from companies that have
implemented programmes to give back to
society; and in 2011 Conde Nast Traveler found
that 93 per cent of readers said travel companies
should be responsible for protecting the
environment.
A whopping 84 per cent of those in marketing
and PR see ‘green’ credentials as increasingly
important, according to The Travel Foundation &
Forum for the Future; 71 per cent of TripAdvisor
members say they plan to make more ecofriendly choices in the coming year, up from 65%
last year; while 51per cent of meeting planners
will hold meetings only in sustainable venues,
JW Marriott Denver found in a 2010 survey, Sr.
Honey
reported.
STC14 wrapped up at the Hyatt Regency Hotel
Port of Spain, Trinidad today.
Carlos Vogler,
Regional Director
for the Americas of
the United Nations
World Tourism
Organization
(UNWTO)
Acting Prime Minister
Trinidad & Tobago
Winston Dookeran
Wonderful surprise for
STC delegates
Over
a
dozen
delegates
and
journalists
on a study
tour at STC14
were
treated to a rare sight Wednesday – a leatherback
sea turtle nesting during broad daylight.
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Just after midday, the group arrived at Grand
Riviere, a stretch of shoreline along Trinidad’s
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north coast; and members were told during a 30minute briefing that they would not see the
nesting process as the turtles come ashore during The Caribbean Tourism Organization's
the
night. exists to increase significantly the
inclusion of the Caribbean region in the
However, on arrival on the beach a leatherback set of destinations being considered by
was spotted in the final stages of the nesting travellers. CTO's envisions the global
recognition of the Caribbean as a
process.
growing set of places and experiences
Grande Riviere is Trinidad’s most nest-intensive that people feel compelled to enjoy in
beach during the laying season of sea turtles, their lifetime.
including the critically endangered leatherback,
and is the third most prolific site in the world. READ MORE..
The nesting season runs from May to September
every
year.
The group was given a guided tour by members
of the Grande Riviere Nature Tour Guide
Association (GRNTGA) - a non-profit,
community based organisation, specializing in
turtle protection, environmental conservation,
awareness and eco-tourism within the beautiful
village of Grande Riviere and environs.
Leatherbacks, the largest sea turtle, can grow to
almost 10 feet and weigh 2000 pounds and
GRNTGA – a thriving eco-tourism project, is
involved in protecting the animals on land from
persons who would poke, ride or sometimes kill
them.
Guyana has done it
again!
Guyana has, for the
second consecutive
year, emerged as
the biggest winners
at
the
2013
Caribbean Tourism
Organisation
(CTO)/TravelMole Sustainable Tourism Awards.
The country won three of the six awards at the
awards ceremony at STC-14 at the Hyatt
Regency Hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad.
The 2013 awards comprised six categories
covering all aspects of sustainability, from
overall
excellence,
to
accommodation,
community,
heritage
and
biodiversity.
The
Caribbean
Excellence
in
Sustainable
Tourism Award
was won by Guyana’s Karanambu Lodge
Inc., an eco-tourist destination providing guests
with the opportunity to experience the wildlife of
Karanambu.
The Puerto Rico Tourism Company copped the
Destination
Stewardship
Award
with
Conservation International Guyana receiving
special mention in this category. Guadeloupe’s
AQUARIUM de la Guadeloupe; Aruba’s
Amsterdam Manor Beach Resort; and Sandals
Resorts International were also commended in
this category.
Winner of the Sustainable Accommodation
Award was Tryall Club and Villas in Jamaica
where members and guests enjoy the beauty of
nature in its many forms: from lush hillsides and
vibrant seascapes to abundant plant life and local
species. Almost
Paradise
Cottages
and
Restaurant in Grenada; Community and Tourism
Services Ltd., Guyana; and Accra Beach Hotel
and Spa in Barbados received special mention.
The Community Benefit Award was won by
Bowden Pen Farmers’ Association in Jamaica, a
community based organization in the Upper Rio
Grande Valley in the eastern parish of St.
Thomas with a membership of 27 persons who
are divided in two livelihood streams agriculture and tourism. Guyana’s Aranaputa
Community Based Tourism and The Bahamas
Cape Eleuthera Island School were also highly
commended.
National Trust of Guyana took home the Heritage
Protection Award for its work in preserving and
promoting the nation's patrimony so that the
present and future generations will access and
enjoy the richness of Guyana's heritage. The
National Art Gallery and Educulture Bahamas
Ltd. both of The Bahamas were also recognised
in this category.
The Biodiversity Award went to the Guyana
Marine Turtle Conservation Society with the
Jamaica Conservation and Development Trust;
Atlantis Paradise Island in The Bahamas and the
Association Evasion Tropicale Guadeloupe all
receiving special mention in the category.
In 2012, Guyana won the Caribbean Excellence
in Sustainable Tourism Award, the Community
Benefit Award and the Biodiversity Conservation
Award.
The submissions were judged by an esteemed
panel of tourism specialists - Ena Harvey, the
hemispheric specialist for agro tourism at
the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on
Agriculture (IICA); Seleni Matus, the senior
advisor on destinations at Sustainable Travel
International and Gail Henry, the CTO's
sustainable tourism product specialist.
Rural
tourism
sustainable, say experts
Rural tourism can be
sustainable
and
economically
beneficial,
growing
whole communities and
creating jobs while
showcasing and preserving the rich culture and
flora
and
fauna.
That’s the consensus of two Trinidad-born
tourism experts, who spoke on Thursday morning
at the final day of the STC-14 in Trinidad &
Tobago.
Suzan Lakhan-Baptiste and Ena Harvey shared
practical examples of their successes and offered
a model for other countries and communities to
adopt.
Lakhan-Baptiste, who represents Nature Seekers
Incorporated, a group which patrols Matura
Beach on the east coast of Trinidad, shared that
they not only work to preserve the safety of
leather back turtles which nest on the beach
between March and August, but also use the trash
found on the beach and turn it into cash.
“Every year we gather huge tons of glass bottles
which we into cash by melting the glass and
remaking it into jewellery and reselling it,” she
disclosed. “It’s the only such programme in the
Caribbean like this and it creates several jobs for
community
residents.”
Additionally, residents can work as tour guides,
or open their homes to host visitors among other
niche
jobs.
Harvey said the agro-tourism model, which her
agency, the Inter American Institutes for
Cooperation On Agriculture, promotes, partners
with the Brasso Seco project in Trinidad to
integrate
agriculture
into
tourism.
At Brasso Seco, visitors can stay with a family,
have authentic cuisine and visit the local
plantations that produce coffee and cocoa or
simply bird watch, hike or tour the waterfalls and
rivers. All aspects of this create jobs and the
money spent by the experimental visitors stays in
the community to help its future development.
Juliana Johan Boodram, permanent secretary in
the Trinidad & Tobago Ministry of Tourism,
moderated the forum and insisted her
government’s mission remains to bring
sustainable projects to the forefront and help
conservation
become
a
job
earner.
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