The Caribbean Tourism Organisation is partnering with the ministry of tourism in St. Kitts to host a sustainable tourism forum, with a focus on climate change.

Themed Good for Us, Better for All, the Climate Smart Sustainable Tourism Forum is being held as part of the UNWTO International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.

The event will take place from September 6th-8th

It will bring together local, regional, and international representatives from public and private sector tourism entities, as well as development agencies that offer programming in sustainable tourism, for three days of interactive engagements.

Major elements will include best practice sharing and strategic consultations for a CTO climate adaptation project funded by the Caribbean Development Bank, in order to strengthen holistic destination management approaches in the Caribbean.

“The CTO is honoured to partner with St. Kitts & Nevis to host this forum, which will explore various facets of sustainable tourism, in view of the threats and opportunities for regional tourism development, as a result of climate variability and climate change,” said Amanda Charles, CTO sustainable tourism specialist.

The event will also feature experiential field visits, a meeting of CTO’s Sustainable Tourism Technical Committee, and winning presentations from CTO’s Primary School Tourism Writing Competition.

The event culminates with the presentation ceremony for CTO’s 2017 Sustainable Tourism Awards which recognise regional sustainability champions.

“There is an inexorable link between tourism activity and climate change.

“Tourism therefore must play an integral role in the global response to climate change; a charge St. Kitts takes very seriously.

“Through the investment of considerable resources into sustainable tourism, St. Kitts is changing the way tourism is perceived and practiced globally, regionally, and at home,” St. Kitts & Nevis minister of tourism Lindsay Grant concluded.