The Directorate of Sustainable Tourism (DST) of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) held its 29th Meeting of the Special Committee on Sustainable Tourism on June 14th, 2018. The Special Committee meeting was hosted at the ACS Secretariat in Port of Spain, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Sixteen (16) Member States, two (2) Associate Member States, two (2) Observer Countries, one (1) Founding Observer and one (1) Observer Organization as well as two (2) Special Invited Guests via videoconference participated in the meeting.

The topics of discussion included the following:

1)    The implementation of initiatives on Community-Based Tourism focusing on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Tourism

2)    Innovation in strengthening Capacity Building in the Tourism Sector

3)    Fostering the implementation of the Indicators of the Sustainable Tourism Zone of the Greater Caribbean (STZC)

4)    Multidestination Tourism  and Air Connectivity

5)    Synergies with tourism partners in sustainability

In addition, during this meeting, Member States discussed the way forward for the formulation of the 2019-2021 ACS Plan of Action.

Finally, the Meeting expressed interest in showcasing tourism destinations of the Greater Caribbean, through the sharing of information regarding success stories in destination marketing. As a result, the DST will dedicate the 17th Edition of its Newsletter, “In the Zone” to highlight the aforementioned.