Jamaican companies support workshop on Sustainable Tourism
The Jamaica Tourist Board, Ruder Finn Agency, Sandals Resorts, Half Moon Resorts-Montego Bay and the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, are among 22 private and public sector entities and non governmental organizations that are lending their financial support to a ground-breaking workshop on sustainable tourism.
The planned session comes against the background of a recent call for businesses and families in the Caribbean to join with governments in preparing for another busy hurricane season.
“Business and community organizations should continually evaluate how capable their governments are to fulfill the important responsibility of facilitating readiness to disaster preparedness. Failure to evaluate this readiness will result in needless death and very high losses,” noted Oliver Davidson, an international disaster specialist and advisor to the World Bank.
According to Mr. Davidson, “the public sector, no matter how wealthy and prepared, can never do the full job of protecting citizens against all hazards.
The mistaken belief that government can do it all, results in a high burden on government that is often unfulfilled.” The 2004 hurricane season demonstrated the importance of citizens questioning government’s capability in the face of natural disasters.
Other agencies supporting the session include: Almond Resorts, American Express, Antigua and Barbuda Department of Tourism, the Association of Caribbean Media Workers, Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, BET, BWIA West Indies, Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism, Caribbean Star Airlines, Caribbean Sun Airlines, Coco Kreole, Elite Island Records, the Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Tourism, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).