Tourism out of control

Hugh Riley opened the conference

Virtues of environmentally balanced tourism extolled at Caribbean conference

The 12th Caribbean Sustainable Tourism Conference opened in Bermuda this morning with addresses from CTO’s High Riley and the Bermuda and Premier Paula Cox  who extolled the virtues of an environmentally balanced  tourism economy .  Writes Graham McKenzie

Ms Cox told of the changes to  Bermuda’s  tourism strategy since the heady days of Seaplanes and Millionaires playground.

The keynote speech from Costas Christ , Editor at large of National Geographic Magazine, bought matters quickly down to earth as he claimed that ‘Tourism is out of Control’. Citing examples such as Haad Rin , venue for the infamous Full Moon party in Thailand he claimed that lack of control and awareness of sustainability had led to the destruction of many pristine sites. The question he posed was ‘How do we get Travel and Tourism right ?’

The strategy he proposed should be formed around the three basic principles:

1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
2. Protect Culture, heritage and nature
3. Ensure that tourism brings many social benefits for locals .

“Whilst much progress has been made there is much more than can be done and here in the Caribbean the rest of the world has caught up with sustainable tourism initiatives” he stated.
Given examples as diverse  as the Maldives, the MGM city centre in Las Vegas and alternative fuels for airlines. He suggested that’ we can take this to the next level we can improve. No stone should be left unturned in our pursuit of a more sustainable environment and through that a more sustainable tourism product.’

Under questioning from the audience Christ admitted that an even tougher challenge lay ahead in balancing the demands of a tourism economy and those of maintaining cultural, topographical and heritage differences. ‘Only in this way will the Caribbean remain competitive ‘ he concluded.
 

Graham McKenzie