The sustainability of the Caribbean coastal product will be the main focus of the 10th Annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development, also known as the Sustainable Tourism Conference (STC-10), to be in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, next April.The conference, which will run from April 28-May 1, 2008, has as its theme, Keeping the Right Balance - Sustaining the Caribbean Coastal Product. This is in keeping with the designation of 2008 as International Year of the Reef by the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), coupled with the fact that Caribbean development converges on coastal areas.
“Given that the region’s tourism development is largely coastal there are number of key related issues that affect the sustainability of the region’s tourism,” said Mareba Scott, CTO’s sustainable tourism product specialist, “like climate change, disaster risk management, cruise tourism and the and marine based attractions including the implications for the dive market.”
A comprehensive and dynamic programme is being planned, to include the customary study tours - a key feature of this conference - one of which will be to the world’s only conch farm. 
The annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development is part of the information dissemination and regional awareness component of CTO’s Strategy for Sustainable Tourism. It looks at how member states can design and implement sustainable tourism policies and programmes, offering a regional forum for information exchange on the successes and pitfalls of national, regional and international initiatives.
STC-10 is organized by CTO in collaboration with the Turks & Caicos Tourist Board. It will be held at Beaches (by Sandals) which is a Green Globe Certified hotel.
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