Sustainability Charter Launch
(ZIZ News) — Tourism ministry officials and other stakeholders came together at the Ocean Terrace Inn on Tuesday for the official launch of the Heart of St. Kitts Sustainability Charter and the Heart of St. Kitts Foundation.
The Charter and the Foundation are the results of collaboration between the government and Sustainable Travel International and aims to chart the way forward on developing projects to sustain the tourism sector.
Director of Partners for Sustainable Travel International, Andrew Grossmann, explained how the sustainability charter works.
“Their purpose is to outline the minimum requirements for businesses to implement sustainability. They also support businesses to own a piece of their destination’s sustainability story. And when done successfully, tourists to a destination are presented a cohesive communication strategy for what matters to the destination and how businesses are responding to that,” he said.
Minister of Tourism, the Hon. Lindsay Grant noted the significance of the Charter and the Foundation to the work of the Tourism Ministry.
“The Heart of St. Kitts Sustainability Charter offers us an avenue for business to understand how their operations contribute to destination-wide sustainability and to communicate their efforts to residents and guests alike. The Heart of St. Kitts Foundation will take this new level of collective commitment to sustainability to the very next level,” he said.
The forum also explained that the Heart of St. Kitts Foundation taps into the notion of travel philanthropy, allowing visitors to give back to the country.
Funds collected by the foundation would then be used in other sustainability projects.
According to the organizers tourism businesses in St. Kitts will use the sustainability charter to understand and communicate their role in the sustainability of the island.
These businesses are expected to commit to participate in a minimum of seven subthemes and to communicate their participation within the community and to tourists.