BERMUDA TO HOST TOURISM CONFAB
NEW YORK (January 27, 2011) – The Caribbean’s travel and tourism community is setting its sights on sustainable tourism, at a convention to be held in Bermuda from April 3 to 6 which will be keynoted by Costas Christ of National Geographic Traveler magazine.
“The tourism industry is now at a historic crossroads where sustainable principles and practices are becoming a key indicator of quality, along with such traditional standards for quality as excellent guest services, a beautiful hotel room, and great food,” said Christ, the National Geographic Traveler Editor-at-Large who helped define the term eco-tourism.
Christ is set to deliver the keynote address at the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s 12th Annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism (STC-12) on “Global Sustainable Tourism Trends: How Sustainability is Transforming the World of Travel” as he examines the evolution of sustainable tourism and what it means today for destinations in the Caribbean.
“Sustainable tourism is here to stay, and it is changing the entire landscape of travel and tourism as we have known it. Those businesses and destinations that understand this now will be the businesses and destinations that successfully compete tomorrow in terms of market growth, in the emerging greener global economy, he added.
“We are in a global travel market paradigm shift, where embracing sustainable standards, such as tourism that supports the economic and social well-being of local peoples and directly contributes to the protection of cultural and natural heritage, is not just a question of ethics – doing what is right for people and the planet – but rather, it is increasingly a strategy for doing what is right for business growth,” he added ahead of his official remarks at the conference in Bermuda.
STC-12, with the theme “Keeping the Right Balance: Rising Above the Numbers,” will address critical issues such as understanding the next generation of experiential travelers, attracting and developing adequate regional human resource capacity to manage the industry efficiently, and developing strategies to marry profitability with sustainability in the new green economy.
The event, which is being produced by the CTO in collaboration with the Bermuda Department of Tourism, will be held at the Fairmont Southampton which recently completed a renovation of its guestrooms and public spaces. The Fairmont Southampton’s meetings facility was recently outfitted with new draperies in the Mid-Ocean Amphitheater, renovations to the lower lobby and the purchase of more than 1,000 new banquet chairs, in time to welcome delegates to the conference.
Although considered Caribbean because of its culture, Bermuda, with deep colonial ties to England, is actually perched in the Atlantic with flights from New York taking less than two hours.
CAPTION: Bermuda to host sustainable tourism conference.
ENDS