Environmental Compliance Standards Critical in Tourism Sector – Minister

Standards should be developed for environmental compliance throughout the tourism value chain, says Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett.

Addressing the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) inaugural Port Royal Lecture series, on Tuesday (February 28), at the institution’s campus, Palisadoes Park in Kingston, the Minister said this is critical to preserving the marine environment.

“The transition to sustainable ocean economies will ultimately require a set of concrete ideas, strategies, toolkits, best practices and policies that can be standardised and operationalised by all tourism stakeholders working in collaboration with policymakers, regulators, and all other interest groups and stakeholders that are committed to ocean action,” he said.

The event, which was the first in a series, was held under the theme ‘Blue Economy – Regeneration and Resilience’.

Noting that the future of tourism is predicated on stakeholders’ stewardship of the environment and its ecosystems, he urged actors in the industry to engage in awareness raising and behaviour modifications that promote a sustainable blue economy.

The Minister argued that the standards should also identify gaps as well as apply innovative and scalable solutions.

Mr. Bartlett said this is particularly important in the context of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), whose natural environments are vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

“The ultimate goal is to ensure that the coasts and ocean-based tourism is sustainable, resilient, addresses climate change, reduces pollution, supports ecosystem regeneration and biodiversity conservation and also invests in local jobs and communities,” he added.