St. Eustatius and global non-profit Sustainable Travel International today announced the launch of their partnership to undertake a Rapid Sustainable Destination Diagnostic that will facilitate a focused assessment of St. Eustatius’ performance on 80 internationally recognized and vetted indicators for sustainable destination management. This assessment will provide St. Eustatius with a 360-degree profile of their current status toward sustainable tourism. It will also engage destination stakeholders to develop a practical action plan for destination stewardship that will address collective priorities through quick-win projects that demonstrate tangible and measurable results in the short- to near term.
Commissioner of Tourism, Mr. NicolaasSneek, publicly announced the partnership at the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s Caribbean Week Media Marketplace in New York.
Charles Lindo, Director of Tourism for St. Eustatius commented, “The collaboration with Sustainable Travel International demonstrates our commitment to integrate sustainability into our policies, day-to-day management and marketing. We strongly believe that pursuing destination sustainability can help St. Eustatius to increase our competitiveness as well as preserve sense of place and ensure long-term viability of the island’s tourism sector.”
St. Eustatius is one of the first destinations in the Caribbean and the World to undertake a destination sustainability evaluation using internationally vetted indicators. Affectionately to the locals as Statia, St. Eustatius is not your average Caribbean island. With three National Parks, reefs teaming with fish, gentle trade winds and warm and genuinely friendly people, the idyllic island is pristine, unhurried, and pleasantly off the beaten path. St. Eustatius joins the ranks of a growing number of tourism destinations that recognize the potential of sustainable destination management to drive economic growth and inclusive development.
Sustainable Travel International, www.sustainabletravel.org; St. Eustatius Tourism Development Foundation, www.statiatourism.com