St. Kitts and Nevis host Sustainable tourism forum

In collaboration with Sustainable Travel International, the St. Kitts and Nevis Ministry of Tourism and International Transport convened the island nation’s first-ever Sustainable Tourism Awareness Forum in late November. The forum brought together nearly 50 representatives from government ministries, utility providers and the private sector to review the results of a country-wide sustainability assessment conducted earlier in the year, and take the first steps toward action to address the issues identified. After reviewing the business case for sustainability, and engaging in some spirited discussion and consensus building, forum participants chose four out of a possible 20 projects as priority action areas. They were increasing governmental awareness of sustainability and tourism; maintaining the integrity of historic Basseterre; boosting local and sustainable inputs into the tourism value chain; and protecting ridge-to-reef from land-based pollution in the watershed. “The record turnout of participants reflects St. Kitts and Nevis’ strong commitment to sustainable tourism,”explained Senator Ricky Skerritt, minister of tourism. “However, this is not just a one-off activity. Our ministry firmly intends to follow up on the results, starting with the identified projects. It is critically important to build on the momentum from this forum to take sustainability in St. Kitts and Nevis to the next level.”(http://www.sustainabletravelinternational.org)