This year's theme; 'Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care', encourages people across the globe to rethink their lifestyles and, through conscious consumer decisions, decrease humanity's collective negative impact on nature's resources.
The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) joins the world in recognizing World Environment Day on 5 June 2015. At the CTO we believe the region holds a singular dream - that we can sustain the growth of our tourism sector to the benefit of our people, our visitors and our environment. This is all the more important as our collective consciousness focusses on the impact of our tourism activities occasioned by the steady growth in the numbers of visitors arriving on our shores by air and by sea.
The reality that our ecosystem, its appeal as a tourism product, and the quality of life we enjoy in the Caribbean are inextricably linked, has caused a welcomed shift in our tourism management strategies to ensure that there is greater awareness, policy infrastructure and penal measures to support this balanced approach to our development.
As leaders in Sustainable Tourism in the Caribbean the CTO continues to encourage its members to go the extra mile in incorporating positive environmental practices through resource conservation, energy efficiency and careful local consumption. Partnerships with regional and international tourism institutions help to ensure that we use strategic alliances to advocate for responsible decision-making.
Since its inception World Environment Day has served as a platform to encourage all world citizens to do something positive for their environment. This year’s overarching focus on resource efficiency and sustainable consumption is a reminder to all of us in the tourism industry of our dependency on critical resources and therefore our need to conserve. Creative initiatives such as youth challenges, interactive games, public awareness campaigns and incentive schemes are just a few of the ways we can ensure this message becomes our daily mantra. What initiatives will your community implement?
For World Environment Day 2015, let us play our part in adopting responsible environmentally friendly behavior as a way of life, not only today, but always.
