Omar Perez
The theme of the Caribbean Tourism Organization's Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development, held in Grenada last month, was "The 5 Ps for a Legacy of Caribbean Tourism Sustainability: People, Planet, Prosperity, Purpose & Partnership."
And according to keynote speaker Adam Stewart, it was that last 'P' that enabled tourism in the region to bounce back as quickly as it did.
"We worked with the farmers, we worked with the transportation sectors, the tour providers, the fishers, the entertainers, even the priests and pastors who officiate weddings," said Stewart, the chairman of Sandals Resorts International. "I saw cruise ships working with land-based operators in a way that never happened before."
In attendance at the conference were tourism ministers and secretaries, representatives from ecofriendly hotels, volunteer and charity work organizers and a decarbonization technology manufacture, to name just a few.
Marc Melville, CEO of Jamaica-based excursion operator Chukka Caribbean Adventures, said his company had to form partnerships right from the start, close to 40 years ago, due to the nature of the business.
"Being a nature adventure company, you don't find the best in nature sometimes right on the beach or two minutes from the highway," he said. "You find it in little enclaves, in rural villages and communities all across the six countries we operate in. By its nature, long before sustainability and community tourism was hip to talk about -- 25, 30 years ago -- we were doing it."
That involves hiring as many workers as possible and purchasing goods and services when available. "Because local know-how is so critical to the success of what we do, we always try to find a local partner," Melville said.
Partnerships aren't just limited to business, they also stretch to education. Aquanauts Grenada holds the Grenada Dive and Conservation Festival every year. The weeklong event, to be held in September, highlights the relationship between land and sea, with various local industries, including culinary, agriculture and, of course, scuba diving taking part, each offering an educational component to attendees.
Carol Rose, head of sustainability for the Association of British Travel Agents, said an increasing amount of travelers, particularly younger ones, are insisting on sustainable-certified travel and activities.
A study commissioned by Intrepid Travel last year found that 60% of travelers are more likely to book trips with a company that is open about their environmental impact.
"Sustainability has never been a hard sell to our guests," said Kendra Hopkin-Stewart, president of the Grenada Hotel and Tourism Association and deputy managing director for Blue Horizons Garden Resort, the first Green Globe Platinum-certified resort in Grenada. "They get it. They understand it. They support it."