~Skyviews Sustainability Awards programme targets region’s tourism private sector ~ BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (16 June 2014) – A new sustainability awards programme aimed at the region’s tourism private sector will be launched at the Caribbean’s first Symposium for Innovators in Coastal Tourism, in St. George’s, Grenada, next month. The Skyviews Sustainability Awards enable all businesses, irrespective of size, to measure their progress towards sustainability and to create a resilient supporting environment. The programme measures businesses’ impact on biodiversity, energy, waste, water, and social governance with guidelines on how to achieve best practice in each category. It was developed by Skyviews Inc., a Barbados-based business that produces maps and pocket guides of Caribbean destinations. “We are at a pivotal point in the course of history and the degradation of earths supporting ecosystems. We have before us an urgent call and challenge to adopt sustainable business practices and decouple environmental degradation from economic progress in order to create continued well-being,” said Jessica Bensley, the chief executive officer of Skyviews Inc. “We often talk about ‘measuring what matters, therefore the awards data will provide Caribbean governments with vital information on the private sectors’ adoption towards sustainability and provide quantitative data that directs policy and backs rationale for partnerships in order to create climate resiliency,” she added. The Skyviews awards programme is just one of several innovative Caribbean...
Learn MoreCREST stands alone in the areas of environmentally sustainable and socially responsible tourism, having built an international network of highly-trained experts providing interdisciplinary analysis and solutions, as well as publications, conferences, courses, training, and educational workshops. CREST delivers programs and services in field research, feasibility and impact studies, market research, certification programs, traveler’s philanthropy and strengthening sustainable tourism and ecotourism. CREST’s mission is to promote responsible tourism policies and practices globally so that local communities may thrive and steward their cultural resources and biodiversity. The rapid pace of resort and vacation home developments along coastlines and on islands is contributing to a variety of environmental and social issues. CREST has sought to critically address these through research and analysis of the coastal tourism sector – the fastest growing sector in the tourism industry – in order to lessen the social and environmental impact of these developments, and increase the benefits for local communities on the coast. CREST has extensive experience examining and providing policy recommendations to the coastal tourism sector including several reports and publications: 1) “Alternative Development Models & Good Practices for Sustainable Coastal Tourism: A Framework for Decision Makers in Mexico”, a report which compiles existing best practices for sustainable, large-scale coastal tourism developments in Mexico, and provides recommendations for implementation at the policy level; 2) “The Impact of Tourism Related...
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