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SIX local tourism organisations are up for possible recognition following their nomination for the prestigious Sustainable Tourism Award (STA) at this year’s Caribbean Tourism Organisation’s 14th Annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development (STC-14). The event will be hosted in Trinidad and Tobago from April 15-18, under the theme: “Keeping the Right Balance: Enhancing Destination Sustainability through Products, Partnerships, and Profitability.”
The six companies, Karanambu, Conservation International (CI) Guyana, Guyana Marine Turtle Conservation Society (GMTCS), Aranaputa, National Trust and Atta Lodge were nominated by the Ministry of Tourism, and Tourism Minister (acting) Irfaan Ali, is confident that given the potency of the Guyanese eco-tourism product, that victory in all six categories is inevitable.
“You know Guyana hosted that STC last year and we won a number of awards… This year Guyana is sending six nominations, and we are hoping that we can win all six categories because we think that our product is the strongest,” Minister Ali said.
He said that winning is important, as it sends “an important message to the international community, to international tourists and groups of tourists that look at eco-adventure, nature, adventure, and look at sustainable tourism, that really in the Region, the haven of sustainable tourism resides in Guyana, and we are confident that we can take away all six of these awards this year, and continue this progressive frontier of not only advancing of our eco-tourism product, but remaining the most outstanding sustainable tourism destination.”
Karanambu was nominated for the Excellence in Sustainable Tourism Award, CI for the Destination Stewardship Award, GMTCS for the Biodiversity Conservation Award, Aranaputa for the Community Benefit Award, National Trust for the Heritage Protection Award, and Atta Lodge for the Sustainable Accommodation Award.
Minister Ali explained that the organisations and companies chosen for nomination “all fit into a very tight criteria of ensuring that their product is sustainable, that there is no damage to the environment and that they integrate the environment in the development of their product.”
Guyana won three of the five top tourism awards at the 13th Sustainable Tourism Conference hosted in Guyana, from April 15-18, 2012, under the theme, ‘Keeping the Right Balance, Sustaining our Resources.’
Then, Guyana’s Rupununi region won the 2012 Caribbean Excellence in Sustainable Tourism Award; the Community Benefit Award was presented to the Iwokrama International Centre; and the Biodiversity Award was won by Guyana’s Mangrove Reserve Women Producers’ Project.
The 2012 Regional tourism awards comprised five categories covering all aspects of sustainability, from overall excellence, to accommodation, community, heritage and biodiversity.
The STC is part of an information dissemination and Regional awareness strategy aimed at facilitating panel discussions, presentation and interactive workshops to enable Caribbean countries to explore how to enhance their countries and the Caribbean destination as sustainable and competitive in the current global environment. It also serves as a primary arena where new and creative ideas about enhancing the competitiveness and sustainability of the Caribbean tourism product are generated.
According to Minister Ali, one of the areas that Guyana would put forward for discussion this year is the issue of carbon emission. “This conference focuses on sustainable tourism, and Guyana plays a leading role, and basically we will be fighting different issues…a very important issue for us is the environment and the emission of carbon. Some of the larger nations are still behind in their obligation and it is our hope that this conference will reinforce the importance of us fulfilling those obligations,” he said.
The six companies, Karanambu, Conservation International (CI) Guyana, Guyana Marine Turtle Conservation Society (GMTCS), Aranaputa, National Trust and Atta Lodge were nominated by the Ministry of Tourism, and Tourism Minister (acting) Irfaan Ali, is confident that given the potency of the Guyanese eco-tourism product, that victory in all six categories is inevitable.
“You know Guyana hosted that STC last year and we won a number of awards… This year Guyana is sending six nominations, and we are hoping that we can win all six categories because we think that our product is the strongest,” Minister Ali said.
He said that winning is important, as it sends “an important message to the international community, to international tourists and groups of tourists that look at eco-adventure, nature, adventure, and look at sustainable tourism, that really in the Region, the haven of sustainable tourism resides in Guyana, and we are confident that we can take away all six of these awards this year, and continue this progressive frontier of not only advancing of our eco-tourism product, but remaining the most outstanding sustainable tourism destination.”
Karanambu was nominated for the Excellence in Sustainable Tourism Award, CI for the Destination Stewardship Award, GMTCS for the Biodiversity Conservation Award, Aranaputa for the Community Benefit Award, National Trust for the Heritage Protection Award, and Atta Lodge for the Sustainable Accommodation Award.
Minister Ali explained that the organisations and companies chosen for nomination “all fit into a very tight criteria of ensuring that their product is sustainable, that there is no damage to the environment and that they integrate the environment in the development of their product.”
Guyana won three of the five top tourism awards at the 13th Sustainable Tourism Conference hosted in Guyana, from April 15-18, 2012, under the theme, ‘Keeping the Right Balance, Sustaining our Resources.’
Then, Guyana’s Rupununi region won the 2012 Caribbean Excellence in Sustainable Tourism Award; the Community Benefit Award was presented to the Iwokrama International Centre; and the Biodiversity Award was won by Guyana’s Mangrove Reserve Women Producers’ Project.
The 2012 Regional tourism awards comprised five categories covering all aspects of sustainability, from overall excellence, to accommodation, community, heritage and biodiversity.
The STC is part of an information dissemination and Regional awareness strategy aimed at facilitating panel discussions, presentation and interactive workshops to enable Caribbean countries to explore how to enhance their countries and the Caribbean destination as sustainable and competitive in the current global environment. It also serves as a primary arena where new and creative ideas about enhancing the competitiveness and sustainability of the Caribbean tourism product are generated.
According to Minister Ali, one of the areas that Guyana would put forward for discussion this year is the issue of carbon emission. “This conference focuses on sustainable tourism, and Guyana plays a leading role, and basically we will be fighting different issues…a very important issue for us is the environment and the emission of carbon. Some of the larger nations are still behind in their obligation and it is our hope that this conference will reinforce the importance of us fulfilling those obligations,” he said.
