Caribbean Tourism to Enhance Sustainability Credentials

The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of the West Indies, the Foundation for Environmental Education and Green Trinidad and Tobago to use their resources to assess how the region is participating in global sustainability certification programs.

The new partnership, which was signed virtually at the Caribbean Travel Marketplace, will take a look at how Caribbean tourism-related companies are using (or not using) global sustainability certification programs, such as Green Key, and how to promote their use.

“We wish to thank our partners at The UWI, FEE and Green Trinidad and Tobago for advancing with us this important undertaking,” said CHTA’s President, Nicola Madden-Grieg. “We look forward to drawing upon the research project’s results to raise awareness, stimulate more direct actions by the industry, and advance policies and programs which raise the bar and move the region toward playing a more active and results-oriented role in protecting and enhancing our most treasured resources – our people and our environment.”

The research project, according to Green Trinidad and Tobago’s CEO Joanna Moses-Wothke, will not only help governments create greener tourism policy, but will also “significantly help financially restricted small business owners to make informed decisions about marketing strategies, sustainable tourism, product development, and even customer service in a sustainable realm.”