Joint Statement by the Caribbean Tourism Organization and International Union for Conservation of Nature on International Day for Biological Diversity
As the world comes together in recognition of the plethora of organisms and species that inhabit planet earth, the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) is pleased to join with International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in celebration of International Day for Biological Diversity 2017.
This year, under the theme “Biodiversity and Sustainable Tourism” the CTO is particularly pleased that the global community continues to pay serious attention to the significance of tourism as a driving force for sustainable development.
CTO is acutely aware that the Caribbean is the most tourism-dependent region in the world, but it is not often recognised that there is a direct correlation between our region’s biological diversity and the scale of our tourism activity. Without question, Caribbean tourism products utilize the natural environment for myriad value propositions, and so whether one chooses to engage in whale-watching in Dominica, birdwatching in Trinidad and Tobago, snorkelling in the Cayman Islands or hiking in St. Kitts and Nevis, the biodiversity found in the Caribbean appeals to a wide range of visitors, and creates lasting observational and experiential memories for them to treasure.
In fact, the theme “Biodiversity and Sustainable Tourism” heralds a growing partnership between IUCN and the CTO, with one such output represented through IUCN’s sponsorship of the Biodiversity Conservation Award within CTO’s 2017 Caribbean Sustainable Tourism Awards.
We are remarkably blessed in the Caribbean with un-spoilt natural environments that not only lead to an enviable quality of life for our people, but the development of tourism as an economic pillar that allows us to share our rich habitat with the rest of mankind. It is therefore critical that we recognise and form partnerships with the champions that actively work to maintain balance with our sensitive biological treasures.
CTO and IUCN are pleased to collaborate to raise awareness and promote action towards the important contribution of sustainable tourism to economic growth and to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
Our actions matter, and CTO and IUCN are pleased to work together to ensure that the Caribbean remains mindful of both our environmental blessings and our responsibilities not just for present enjoyment, but for the benefit of future generations.
On the International Day for Biological Diversity UNWTO announces a training on tourism and biodiversity in West and Central Africa
The Convention on Biological Diversity of the United Nations has chosen ‘Biodiversity and Sustainable Tourism’ as the theme for the International Day for Biological Diversity, celebrated today 22 May 2017. On this occasion, UNWTO is launching a capacity building programme on sustainable tourism and biodiversity protection, to be implemented in West and Central Africa.
The programme will build on previous tourism and biodiversity seminars that UNWTO successfully delivered in The Gambia, Ghana, and Tanzania and will address biodiversity conservation and environmental protection, taking into account the importance of this topic to safeguard future opportunities for local people to generate income from sustainable tourism development.
The seminars to be held staring June 2017 will focus on building capacities of tourism stakeholders and on maintaining and improving the quality of the tourism product to enhance client satisfaction in the following countries: Benin, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Guinea (Conakry), and Niger.
Primary beneficiaries of the capacity building programme are tourism employees and small entrepreneurs at the grass root level who will be encouraged to act as champions for biodiversity conversation and environmental protection in their enterprises and communities.
The contribution of tourism to conservation is increasingly recognized by the international community. The Cancun Declaration on Mainstreaming the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity for Wellbeing was released on the occasion of COP 13, (the 13th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity) held in Mexico last December. The Declaration recalls that “tourism is an excellent vehicle to use in spreading environmental awareness worldwide, not to mention the livelihood support it provides for communities living in and around reserves and natural areas” and recognises that tourism can be an enabling agent of change.
Through these training seminars, UNWTO continues its long-standing work in strengthening capacities of tourism stakeholders in gaining a better understanding of the relationship between tourism and environmental protection, developing tourism products based on the unique biodiversity in a destination and using tourism development as an incentive to invest in biodiversity conservation and environmental protection.
Will Zurab Pololikasvil from Georgia lead UNWTO? May be not…
Champagne for Georgia – not so fast. There may not be a new UNWTO Secretary-General as of 2018. What if the full membership of the UNWTO General Assembly in Chengdu, China 11-16. September 2017 won’t confirm Zurab Pololikasvil from Georgia as their new leader? Why? There may be plenty of reasons. Stay tuned….
The last Executive Council at their meeting earlier this Month in Madrid voted for Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili from Georgia to be nominated as the new secretary general of the United Nations World Tourism Organization starting in 2018. This nomination needs to be confirmed by the upcoming General Assembly before he could be appointed to the highest post in world tourism.
Not allowed to be in the executive council room during the election debate the Georgia Candidate Zurab Pololikasvili surrounded by his embassy staff was observed in talking to someone on SKYPE, WHAT’s UP or FACEBOOK while in the hotel lobby. Obviously, he was connected to someone attending the election he was not allowed to be part of as a candidate. Is this enough to be unqualified? UNWTO did not want to respond to eTN’s question.
He was observed giving feedback or instructions to the person he was connected to on his mobile phone. Mr. Pololikasvili was constantly on the phone and his conversation ended with everyone from his staff applauding and within no time campaign started flowing.
This is a list of all executive members that had a vote in the Secretary General Election:
|
Angola Azerbaijan Bahamas Bulgaria China Costa Rica1 Croatia Democratic Republic of the Congo Ecuador Egypt France Germany Ghana India Iran (Islamic Republic of) Italy Japan |
(2017) (2017) (2017) (2017) (2019) (2017) (2017) (2019) (2017) (2017) (2019) (2017) (2019) (2017) (2017) (2019) (2019) |
Kenya Mexico Morocco Mozambique Peru Portugal Republic of Korea Saudi Arabia Serbia Seychelles Slovakia South Africa Spain Thailand Tunisia Zambia |
(2019) (2019) (2019) (2019) (2017) (2019) (2019) (2019) (2017) (2017) (2019) (2017) (Permanent Member) (2019) (2017) (2019) |
Following the recommendation of the 105th UNWTO Executive Council meeting in Madrid, Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili nomination needs 2/3 of all member countries attending the upcoming General Assembly to agree for Georgia to lead the UN Agency as of 2018.
In the past, confirming a nominee was not a big challenge, except for a near tied score for the third term of Francesco Francalli in 2005 at the UNWTO General Assembly in Senegal, after Spain raised objections.
It’s not only SKPE, but allegations of fraud, payoffs, and unethical if not illegal manipulation outside of the tourism world may cost Georgia the reconfirmation at the upcoming General Assembly in China.
More on this will be shared with readers over time.
What would happen? There is no clear rule in place. According to verbal statements related to eTN as coming from Taleb Rifai, the current secretary-general, the General Assembly may refer the election back to the new Executive Council.
Many of the current Executive Council country members will be replaced by the end of 2017. (see table)
There will be new countries voting in a 2018 executive council. This new Executive Council meeting could take place early in 2018 and may be followed by an extraordinary General Assembly.Taleb Rifai could stay on or appoint a deputy to lead affairs after his resignation.
UNWTO Rules of Procedure (click)
Is this a likely scenario? This author thinks so. Why? Stay tuned….
Impact-Travel Company Triip.me signs UNWTO’s Private Sector Commitment to the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism.
Sri Lanka, 20 MAY, 2017 – Triip.me signed the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) Private Sector Commitment to the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism in a signing ceremony today in Sri Lanka. Triip is the first Singaporean company to do so.
Formulated in 2011, The Commitment has been signed by 513 companies and associations as of May 2017. Its main objective is a promise by signatories to focus on issues such as human rights, social inclusion, gender equality, accessibility, and the protection of vulnerable groups and host communities in the course of their daily business.
“For Triip, this is both an honor and a serious commitment. Solving the issues outlined by the Code of Ethics for Tourism is why we exist. From day one our business model has created barrier-less access to the global tourism economy, creating thousands of jobs for local guides around the world as a result. Since then, we’ve broadened our impact scope to include working with hotels and other travel providers, leveraging cooperation to further sustainability, cultural and environmental protection, and also protect against the standardisation of destinations,” said Hai Ho, co-founder of Triip.
Founded in 2014, Triip is an impact-travel company dedicated to bringing together local experts and global travelers to create authentic local experiences. As a sharing economy platform, Triip enables passionate locals to become Triip Creators, i.e., create their own private tours to share their passion with travelers, earn money and make new friends – while also offering travelers one-of-a-kind local cultural experiences with real people. The whole process is facilitated by their website and mobile apps. Currently, there are 6,000 local experts in 650+ cities in over 100 countries around the word using Triip, and about 70% are women from low-income countries. By autumn this year, Triip will launch an integration with Booking.com to also offer hotel bookings through the platform alongside the private local tours, thus giving traditional lodging in 227 countries access to authentic, indie tour experiences for the first time ever. Further, a significant percentage of each hotel booking will be automatically given to pre-selected local and global impact partners.
Triip is also extending its impact mission to other business leaders through its CEO/Founder Type-A Retreats in Bhutan.
“As the world’s only carbon negative country, Bhutan is renowned for its practical emphasis on sustainability and happiness,” said Ha Lam, co-founder of Triip “Therefore Triip is exposing as many businesses leaders as possible to this unique country, so that they, too, can more practically build a more sustainable and happy world through their ventures.”
With this new mission as well as its expansion to 700 cities in 2017, Triip hopes to build a network of 1000 Impact hotels within the next two years.