CAST, COTAL Sign Memorandum On Sustainability Of Caribbean Tourism
Organizations To Cooperate In Support Of Initiatives Promoting Sustainability Of Caribbean Tourism
Attending the importance of cooperation among the different entities in the tourism sector to strengthening the development of tourism in the Caribbean, Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST) and Confederación de Organizaciones Turísticas de América Latina (COTAL) has signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to the joint support of both institutions for initiatives that promote sustainability of Caribbean tourism industry.
Photo caption (left to right): Manuel Castro Inocencio, Asociación de Guías de Turismo de la República Dominicana (AGTRD); Tirso Cabral, President of AGTRD; Luis Felipe Aquino, President of Confederación de Organizaciones Turísticas de América Latina (COTAL); José Mella, President of Dominican Travel Agents and Tourism Association (ADAVIT); and Adolfo López, Executive Director for the Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST)
As a first joint project, it provides the potential for an initiative to raise awareness of the use of regulations to apply in visits to areas declared as world heritage or protected and/or national parks and protection standards. To achieve this goal, operators as well as tour guides in particular will be trained to bring home to tourists:
- The importance of conservation ecology and the need for all of our participation in this process and how to get involved in the preservation of the environment.
- Provide information to tourists about the evolution that led to the formation of the natural wealth of the visited areas.
- Communicate to the visitor the participation that natural resources have in the environment and thus, in our lives.
There will also be an awareness campaign to allow man to get closer to nature and to his history and culture, leading to greater awareness of natural wealth and the importance of conservation through educational programs that will enable man to contribute to the care of these products by:
- Implementing courses and workshops for training and education relating to the subject matter.
- Establishing institutional slogans related to the conservation and protection of natural, historical and cultural resources.
- Conducting a promotional information campaign on the importance of the resources already mentioned, in print, CD, participation in radio and television, articles in newspapers and participation in commercial displays.
- Realization of projects with specific contributions which would bear the name of each sponsoring company to help in the recovery of environmental, historic and cultural areas.
The agreement was signed by Sir Royston O. Hopkin, KCMG, Chairman of CAST; and Luis Felipe Aquino, President of COTAL. Actively involved in assisting the process were José Mella, President of Dominican Travel Agents and Tourism Association (ADAVIT), and Tirso Cabral, President of Asociación de Guías de Turismo de la República Dominicana (AGTRD).
La Confederación de Organizaciones Turísticas de América Latina
The Confederación de Organizaciones Turísticas de América Latina (COTAL) is a confederation of 21 associations of travel agents from several countries in Latin America. It represents travel agents of Latin America responsible for selling 80% of airfares for the region and about 14,000 million dollars a year on travel services. Besides the associations, travel agencies are also COTAL members and, as acceding members, so are hotels, transport operators, car rentals and other tourist companies in America and around the world. All official travel organizations in the countries of Latin America are also members of COTAL.
Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism
Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST) is the subsidiary organization of the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA), dedicated to the promotion of sustainable tourism. Its activities focus on providing environmental support to the operations of more than 725 CHTA hotels members, including the publication of manuals, workshops, conferences and seminars and the formulation and implementation of projects of international cooperation in the framework of the Caribbean hospitality.
CAST is a non-profit entity established in 1997 to promote responsible environmental and social management of natural and heritage resources respectively within the hotel and tourism sector. Current priority objectives include the identification and promotion of the natural and cultural resources of the Caribbean, integration of energy and water conservation programs in hotels and support for solid and liquid waste management in tourist destinations.
Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association
The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) facilitates the full potential of the Caribbean hotel and tourism industry by serving members’ needs and building partnerships in a socially responsible and sustainable manner. CHTA was founded in 1962; it is the voice of the Caribbean hospitality industry for the development of the region in the highly competitive and sophisticated environment of international tourism. Today, tourism is widely recognized as a pivotal industry in the economy of the region – and CHTA functions as the common denominator for this industry in a region of diverse nationalities, languages and styles, identifying mutual problems and marshalling the resources of the active and allied members to devise solutions. CHTA represents all facets of the hospitality industry with more than 725 member hotels and 525 allied members.
