CTO appoints new Sustainable Tourism Policy Development Consultant

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) has announced the appointment of a new Sustainable Tourism Policy Development consultant to further the work done so far on a sustainable tourism policy framework for the Caribbean.

Ian Salter, who is experienced in integrated tourism policy development, will coordinate the development of the policy framework which will guide Caribbean states on how best to develop a sustainable tourism product.

His appointment falls under the Caribbean Regional Sustainable Tourism Development Programme (CRSTDP), an eight million euro programme funded by the European Union, to help make the region’s tourism sector more competitive and sustainable.

“It is realising the potential of the Caribbean to have a very strong tourism economy in the long term, to keep tourism on the right track and to ensure tourism does not have significant negative impact on the environment and the communities,” Salter said. “It’s about trying to get the best for the economies of the region and also the best for the people who live here and for the environment.”

Working closely with the CTO, Salter will lead a process to bring together all the work done so far in by various Caribbean countries in this area to develop a regional policy framework for the region.

“We will look at what needs to be done along the tourism value chain – from the time the tourists begins travel in the Caribbean, all the way through to when they leave for home – what needs to be done to ensure tourism doesn’t have an unsustainable impact on the environment, on communities and the social structure of the Caribbean,” he said.

Salter is a graduate in Environmental Management & Policy at Lund University in Sweden and is experienced in issues related to destination management. He successfully led the development of two regional sustainable tourism development policies in Europe and is experienced in all stages of the project life cycle in the field of tourism and the environment.

His appointment took effect from November 15 and will be for a period of 18 months.

Caribbean Regional Sustainable Tourism Development Program

The CRSTDP is an eight million euro programme to be implemented over a three year period by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) and the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) as implementing agencies.

It gives the opportunity to have the main Caribbean tourism public and private sector organisations (CTO and CHA) work co-operatively and share responsibilities in programme activities and implementation.

Funded by the European Union, the CRSTDP’s objective is to contribute to making the Caribbean tourism sector more competitive and more sustainable, contributing to economic growth and poverty reduction and to fostering the sustainability and competitiveness of the Caribbean tourism sector through the establishment of a sustainable development policy framework.