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Barbados/Online -  UNESCO's World Heritage Centre and UNESCO in cooperation with the University of the West Indies and the Barbados National Commission for UNESCO, organized a 2-part sustainable tourism capacity building and networking programme on November 23 and November 30 to enhance the skills of professionals, site managers and local communities in managing tourism in natural and cultural heritage sites.

The workshop was held within the framework of UNESCO's World Heritage Programme for Small Island Developing States, SIDS, and the and was made possible with financial support from the Japanese Funds-in-Trust at UNESCO.

The interactive online learning discussions, centred around the UNESCO World Heritage Sustainable Tourism Toolkit, brought together World Heritage and tourism stakeholders from the targeted countries in the Caribbean.

Alissandra Cummins, Chairperson of the Barbados National Commission for UNESCO, highlighted the region’s need for this workshop "This opportunity comes timely as we in Barbados advance the development of our visitor management plan for the industrial heritage of the story of sugar and rum."

The multitude of external shocks and natural hazards and climate-change-related disasters facing Caribbean SIDS, such as hurricanes, floods, and water insecurity, pose a threat to tourism and heritage sites and consequently undermine the livelihoods and primary source of income for local communities. 

With millions of tourists visiting the region each year, the Caribbean sub-region has the highest percentage contribution of the travel and tourism sector to the gross domestic product of the world's economies.

Session 1 on November 23 focused on Understanding Tourism at your Destination, and session two presented how to develop sustainable tourism strategies. 

Chris Seek, an International Tourism Expert, facilitated the workshop. According to him, the benefits of having a tourism strategy are better coordination, management and monitoring of impacts and resources, and mobilization of resources. He further explains that it is crucial to identify relevant stakeholders and key issues to develop a situation analysis.

Peter Debrine from the UNESCO World Heritage Center presented the web-based platform 'World Heritage Journeys', which serves as a pathfinder for sustainable tourism marketing. World Heritage Journeys is an UNESCO initiative in collaboration with National Geographic and local heritage and tourism managers to showcase World Heritage destinations and help travellers experience them in ways that protect and support their outstanding value and the local communities that sustain them.

Through the web platform VisitWorldHeritage.com web heritage and tourism managers and local experts help produce content for the promotion of a World Heritage Site, encouraging visitors to stay longer in the Destination while gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation of the site and its history.

Chris Seek reaffirmed that it is not an easy road to receive a UNESCO World Heritage designation. “It’s a lot of effort, but once you have received it, it is a valuable tool for the local community to generate long-lasting income.”

The “Transcultura: Integrating Cuba, the Caribbean and the European Union through Culture and Creativity" is a UNESCO programme funded by the European Union aimed at strengthening cultural cooperation throughout different countries in the Caribbean and with European countries. Among the pillars of the four-year programme, which was launched in 2020, is the promotion of mechanisms to support cultural and heritage tourism within the Caribbean. As part of this, the programme supports capacity buildings for heritage, culture and tourism operators, exchanges between artists and entrepreneurs, the identification of cultural tourism routes, and the promotion of economic activities at destinations for sustainable tourism.

“Cultural professionals are not necessarily business people, " explained Borchi, "so there is a need to strengthen their financial management and marketing skills to set up creative businesses". The programme stands out for its inclusion of opportunities for young people and the exchange of cultural professionals between the Caribbean and the European market.

In her presentation, Ena Harvey, from the Interamerican cooperation of Agriculture and Tourism, explained the linkages between the agri-food sector and tourism as opportunities for new rural tourism offerings that promote authenticities, such as food tourism and gastronomy tourism. Charlene Drakes from the Caribbean Tourism Organization presented the organizations’ community-based tourism toolkit, including an enterprise handbook to assist communities and a community diagnostic tool.

Sachiko Haraguchi from the UNESCO World Heritage Center concluded the session by reaffirming that UNESCO stands ready for supporting its Member States in developing sustainable tourism and heritage strategies.

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