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As our vulnerabilities to natural disastershave become increasingly apparent overthe last couple of years, the CaribbeanTourism Organization (CTO) and theCaribbean Disaster EmergencyResponse Agency (CDERA) will soonsign a co-operation agreement toformalize greater collaboration betweenthese two agencies, to ensure thesustainable development of the tourismindustry. Additionally, CTO, CDERA,the University of the West Indies (UWI)and the CARICOM RegionalOrganization for Standards and Quality(CROSQ) will collaborate on an Inter-American Development Bank (IADB)funded project to develop a RegionalStrategy for Disaster Risk Managementfor Sustainable Tourism. Apart from thestrategy, the project will also seek todevelop a methodology for vulnerabilityassessment and risk management.
Countries will benefit from a series ofnational and regional workshops; andnational tourism organizations acrossthe common CTO-CDERA membershipare expected to be beneficiaries ofsupport for institutional strengtheningto assist them in disaster preparednessand management.
The CTO held fruitful discussions withCDERA and IADB officials on May 23rdand May 24th 2006 at CDERA'sheadquarters in Barbados. At thesemeetings it was determined that CTOwill serve on the project's advisorycommittee and will act as the facilitatorfor the regional tourism industry, and
serve to identify focal points in ourmember countries to engage in theprocess. CTO will endeavour to engagethe wider membership of CTO (non-CDERA members) in the process, giventhe non-exclusivity nature of a regionalpublic good and the growing importanceof disaster risk reduction.
The 3-year project is expected tocommence in the final quarter of 2006.
The Sustainable Tourism ProductSpecialist also represented CTO at theCaribbean Development Bank's (CDB)Regional Seminar on "MainstreamingDisaster Risk Reduction into NationalDevelopment Planning in theCaribbean", which was held on May 26th2006 at the bank's headquarters inBarbados.
Speakers lamented the fact that poorplanning continues to exacerbate thelevel of impact of natural disasters tothe region, and several presenters urgedplanners to use re-construction as anopportunity to reduce risk and promoteresilience.
While the Seminar brought togetherregional and international disastermanagement specialists andrepresentatives from various planningagencies, there was a dearth of tourismprofessionals represented at the Seminar.CTO's participation was welcomed andserved to bring into focus the need toengage tourism officials in the disasterrisk reduction discourse particularly,given the economic significance of thetourism industry to the Caribbean.
In this issue
One Financial PlaceCollymore RockSt. Michael, BarbadosTel: 246-427-5242Fax: 246-429-3065
www.onecaribbean.org
VOLUME 1 ISSUE 2 JUNE 2006
www.doitcaribbean.com
CTO Makes DisasterPreparedness a Priority
Making Tourism Count for the Local Economy 2CTO at SIDS- Tourism Bahamas 7-9, 2006 3Another First: STC 2006 Proceedings Available on CD-ROM 3Promising Future for Region's Sustainable Tourism Agenda 4Up-coming CTO Events 4
CTO Makes DisasterPreparedness a Priority
Making Tourism Count for the Local EconomyAs dissemination of tourism best practices to our membershipremains a priority on CTO's agenda, we are pleased to announcethe release of the Sustainable Tourism Division's latest publication,"Making Tourism Count for the Local Economy in the Caribbean:Guidelines for Good Practice". This publication is joint initiativebetween the Pro-Poor Tourism Partnership and the CTO withfunding provided by the UK Travel Foundation, with assistancefrom the EU financed Caribbean Regional Sustainable TourismDevelopment Programme, First Choice and TUI.
These good practice guidelines aim to assist tourism companiesto make a greater contribution to the local economy. The targetgroup for this publication is tourism businesses of various sizesand operational types. These guidelines are distinct from others,by offering practical how- to-do tips rather than focusing on the'what and why' of sustainable tourism. There are eight Briefsin the series that draw on country experiences across theCaribbean on different types of local linkages:
• Brief 1: Overview: tourism and the local economy- buildinglinkages
• Brief 2: Bringing local producers into the supply chain• Brief 3: Building links with local farmers• Brief 4: Employing local staff• Brief 5: Involving local people and products in tours,
packages and excursions• Brief 6: Encouraging tourists to spend in the local economy• Brief 7: Building neighbourhood partnerships• Brief 8: Managing internal change for developing local
linkages
Hard copies of the document can de ordered from CTO'sSustainable Tourism Division or electronic copies of the guidelinescan be downloaded fromhttp://www.onecaribbean.org/information/documentview.php?rowid=3836www.propoortourism.org.uk/caribbeanwww.travelfoundation.org.uk
CTO's Secretary General, Mr. Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace,was among the key speakers featured at the Small IslandDeveloping States (SIDS)- Tourism Conference on "BuildingTourism Resilience in Small Island Developing States" held atthe Wyndham Nassau Resort and Crystal Palace Casino,Nassau, the Bahamas, 7th-9th June 2006.
Mr. Vanderpool-Wallace delivered a presentation on "Managinga Tourism Organization in a Dynamic Industry" where heencouraged destinations to use technology to manageinformation. He stressed that globally, the Caribbean has acomparative tourism advantage and we need to utilize cutting-edge tools to harness this advantage.
The Conference sought to create a forum to identify anddiscuss economic, environmental, social and other relevantfactors that support economic resilience building in the tourismsector in SIDS; recommend "best practices' and measures tostrengthen tourism's resilience and assist SIDS in mitigatingtheir vulnerabilities; and provide a strategic way forward intourism resilience building in SIDS and guidelines to regionaland international agencies to assist these States in managingvulnerabilities in the development of their tourism sector.
The Conference addressed a number of cross-cutting themesand issues that impact on the sustainability of Caribbean SIDS.
Thematic areas included socio-economic resilience issues, theenvironment, health, safety and security, the airline industry,climate change and disaster mitigation, the roles of differentstakeholders, and policy and planning considerations. For moreinformation on the conference please visit www.sids-tourism.org
Among the major outputs of the Conference, a call for actionwill be issued for regional and international tourism organizationsin SIDS.
Last quarter the Sustainable Tourism (ST)Division launched its tri-lingual e-newsletter, Keep Sake, to bring youdedicated news about CTO's work in thearea of Sustainable Tourism and relatedtourism activities across our 32 membercountries. This quarter, the ST Divisionleads another pioneering initiative bymaking the proceedings of the EighthAnnual Conference on Sustainable TourismDevelopment available for the first timeon CD- ROM. We have moved away frompaper-based proceedings to a digitizedformat that combines web-resources withphotographs, video and power pointpresentations.
STC-8 as it is otherwise known, was heldin San Juan, Puerto Rico from April 25th-
29th, 2006 at the Condado Plaza Hoteland Casino under the theme, "Keepingthe Right Balance: Economic Progress andSustainable Tourism". The CD-ROM wasproduced by Utech-VILCOMM MultimediaCenter based at the University ofTechnology in Jamaica. All registeredparticipants of STC-8 will receive a copyof the CD-ROM as well as the nationaltourism organizations in our membercountries. Limited additional copies willbe made available upon request.
The CD-ROM was made possible throughthe financial support provided by theEuropean Union's Caribbean RegionalSustainable Tourism DevelopmentProgramme (CRSTDP). Please visit CTO'swebsite www.onecaribbean.org for more
information on the Sustainable TourismComponent of this project or visit theproject's website at www.caribtdp.org
The Cayman Islands will be the host ofSTC-9 in 2007.
CTO at SIDS- Tourism Bahamas 7-9, 2006
Another First: STC 2006 ProceedingsAvailable on CD-ROM
At the podium, CTO's Secretary General, Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace. Seated from left are McHale Andrew, CRSTDP ResearchAdvisor and Ian Bertrand, Air Transport Specialist
The development of the region's humanresources for tourism continues to be atthe forefront of CTO's activities.Throughout the year, CTO providesinternship opportunities in our variousdepartments to numerous studentspursuing graduate and undergraduatestudies in tourism and related areas. TheSustainable Tourism Division hosted aformer CTO Youth Congress winner,Rolando Brison of St. Maarten, for threemonths. Rolando is a final year student atthe INHolland University in Haarlem, theNetherlands pursuing a degree in Tourismand Recreation Management.
During his attachment from March to May31st 2006, one of Rolando's assigned
project activitieswas to evaluatesustainabletourisminformation onCTO's intranetand makerecommendationsfor improvementor re-organizationof the sustainabletourism websiteinformation.Some of therecommendationswill indeed betaken on board as CTO is currently in theprocess of developing a new website underthe information technology componentof the Caribbean Regional SustainableTourism Development Programme(CRSTDP).
Best wishes from the CTO family toRolando as he completes his studies andembarks on a promising tourism career.
Up-comingCTO EventsOctober 22nd -25th, 2006-Caribbean Tourism Conference(CTC- 29), Grand Bahama, theBahamas. To downloadregistration forms and for moreinformation visithttp://www.onecaribbean.org/information/categorybrowse.php?categoryid=886
July 17th -22nd EventManagement CertificateProgramme, Accra Beach Hotel,BarbadosFor more information visithttp://www.onecaribbean.org/information/categorybrowse.php?categoryid=885
CTO's Headquarters
One Finacial PlaceCollymore RockSt. MichaelBARBADOSTel: (246) 427 5242Fax: (246) 429-3065Email:[email protected]: www.onecaribbean.orgwww.doitcaribbean.org
CTO's New York Office
80 Broad St.32nd floorNew York, NY 10004Tel: (212) 635 9530Fax: (212)6359111Email: [email protected]
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CTO's Toronto Office
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About CTOThe Caribbean Tourism Organization, with headquarters in Barbados and marketing operations in New York, London andToronto, is the Caribbean's tourism development agency and comprises over 30 member governments and a myriad of privatesector entities.
The CTO's mission is to provide to and through its members, the services and information needed for the development ofsustainable tourism for the economic and social benefit of the Caribbean people. The organization provides specialized supportand technical assistance to member countries in the areas of marketing, human resource development, research and statistics,information technology and sustainable tourism development. The CTO disseminates information on behalf of its membergovernments to consumers and the travel trade.
Contact Us
Promising Future for Region'sSustainable Tourism Agenda
We welcome you feedback on the activities of the ST Division and wouldappreciate receiving your suggestions on how Keep Sake can be improved.Please send your questions, suggestions or comments to Mareba Scott, SustainableTourism Product Specialist at [email protected]
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Rolando Brison
