Caribbean countries will meet in Trinidad and Tobago on September 3rd and 4th to review the Caribbean region’s first Disaster Risk Management Strategy and Plan of Action for the Tourism Sector in the Caribbean as well as, Standards for Conducting Hazard Mapping, Vulnerability Assessment and Economic Valuation for Risk Assessment for the Tourism Sector.
The regional consensus building workshop is being convened as a component of Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency’s (CDERA) Regional Disaster Risk Management for Sustainable Tourism in the Caribbean project which is financed by the Inter-American Development Bank.
The project is being executed by the Barbados- based CDERA, in conjunction with the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Regional Organization for Standards and Quality (CROSQ), and the University of the West Indies (UWI).
At the end of the project, tourism stakeholders, such as hotel organizations, travel agencies, food and beverage organization and local authorities, will have clear guidance on the type of actions needed in order to mitigate the effects of natural disasters on tourism, the Caribbean’s primary economic activity. A methodology would also have been established to promote disaster risk management in the productive sectors in the region.
By Mareba Scott
