miércoles, 19 de octubre de 2011

Arrecifes – Six Senses Sustainable Tourism Project Overview and Colombia’s Potential to Become a Sustainable Tourism Destination

Arrecifes – Six Senses Sustainable Tourism Project Overview and
Colombia’s Potential to Become a Sustainable Tourism Destination

Prepared by:
Costas Christ, President, Beyond Green Travel, LLC
International Advisor on Sustainable Tourism
 

Short Professional Biography
Costas Christ is a world-recognized sustainable tourism expert, with 25 years of international experience in more than 100 countries across six continents. He is one of the pioneers of ecotourism, helping to officially define ecotourism as “responsible travel to natural areas that protects nature and sustains the well being of local people” and serving as both a founding member and former Chairman of The International Ecotourism Society.  Costas served as Senior Director for Ecotourism at Conservation international, where he also supervised ecotourism projects in 12 countries. He is an Editor for National Geographic Traveler magazine, and he serves as a sustainable tourism advisor for the World Travel and Tourism Council. In addition, Costas is Director of Sustainability for the Virtuoso Travel Network – one of the largest business to business travel trade organizations in the world. He is the lead author of the landmark study, “Tourism and Biodiversity” published by The United Nations Environmental Programme and his articles and essays on travel and tourism have appeared in many international publications, including the New York Times, International Herald Tribune and Sunday Times of London. His television appearances include Nat Geo TV, Travel Channel, Good Morning America, CNN International, and BBC World, to talk about sustainable tourism and emerging destinations. He is the founder and president of Beyond Green Travel, an international consultancy firm providing sustainable tourism solutions and services to destinations, travel companies, governments and tourism boards.  In 2008, Costas was internationally recognized as a 'Tourism Visionary'.

Global Tourism Background and Trends
      The World Tourism Organization predicts that within the next 15 years, international tourism will double to 1.8 billion tourism arrivals, making travel and tourism a major engine of economic growth and employment for countries around the world. The travel and tourism industry currently represents 10% percent of global GDP, employing 1 out of 12 people in the world today.

      Tourism growth can either be an opportunity or a threat to nature, cultures, and the environment. Tourism development that is based upon the principles and practices of sustainable tourism is an opportunity for countries to avoid repeating the mistakes of other tourism development projects of the past that did not follow sustainable tourism practices and damaged the natural and cultural environment.

      Successful sustainable tourism can take place in and around national parks and protected areas as well as in both urban and rural areas. Sustainable tourism is based on three key pillars: Environmentally-sensitive operations; Support for the protection of cultural and natural heritage; and Social and economic benefits to local people.

      The fastest growing sector of the travel and tourism industry is now being led by destinations with tourism products and services based upon authentic cultural and natural heritage consistent with sustainable tourism practices.

      The World Travel and Tourism Council, whose membership includes the 100 leading travel and tourism companies in the world, has stated that sustainable tourism may be the most significant transformation in the history of modern travel by changing the way we travel. Those companies and governments that understand sustainable tourism now will become the new leading tourism destinations tomorrow.

Colombia - An Emerging Tourism Destination
      As Colombia emerges on the world stage of tourism, it is in a unique position to take advantage of the sustainable tourism transformation underway in the global travel and tourism industry. By avoiding the mistakes of poorly planned and managed tourism projects in other established tourism destinations that has led to serious environmental problems, Colombia can become a sustainable tourism leader in the world and grow its tourism economy in a way that directly supports protecting nature and benefiting local people.

      Other destinations in South and Central America are turning to sustainable tourism models of development. In May 2011, at the World Travel and Tourism Council Global Summit, President Calderon announced that Mexico will make sustainable tourism a national priority. The Prime Minister of Belize has also announced a national sustainable tourism master plan for his country, and Panama has also embarked on sustainable tourism development. Costa Rica continues to make sustainable tourism a national priority, and the President of Costa Rica has called for continuing sustainable tourism as an economic development model that will also help protect Costa Rica’s natural environment.  

      Colombia is at a major crossroads as an emerging tourism destination: The decisions Colombia makes now about whether to support sustainable tourism development is key to its future as a world class tourism destination and will determine whether Colombia follows a path to tourism growth that delivers employment and economic prosperity to local communities while also helping to protect Colombia’s cultural and natural heritage for future generations.  Without a sustainable tourism model in Colombia, the country faces a risk of tourism development happening in an unplanned and damaging way to the environment and local people.


Tayrona National Park, Arrecifes, and Six Senses Resort: A Sustainable Tourism Best Practice Model for Colombia
      Although Colombia has over 50 beautiful national parks, most international tourists today have only heard about Tayrona. In that sense, Tayrona has become Colombia’s “Ambassador National Park” to the outside world. What happens with tourism development in Tayrona can help successfully position Colombia as a world class sustainable tourism destination. Colombia can greatly benefit from a sustainable tourism best practice project in Tayrona at Arrecifes. If this happens, Tayrona can also become a sustainable tourism model for other Colombia national parks.

      It is important to understand that nature tourism and ecotourism are not the same thing. Nature tourism simply means that tourists travel to a place in nature to experience natural resources – beaches, jungle, and wildlife. On its own, nature tourism can seriously damage the environment and this is already happening in some parts of Tayrona. Ecotourism is a part of sustainable tourism and is focused specifically on natural areas. By its very definition, ecotourism and sustainable tourism directly help to protect nature, support cultural heritage, and bring economic benefits through jobs and fair wages to the local people. Right now, Tayrona is focused mostly on just nature tourism.

      Tayrona needs a sustainable tourism master plan. Such a plan should include a multi-stakeholder approach, including the interests of the indigenous people, private landowners, tourism businesses, and the government working together to get it right. It will also be important for more of the tourism-generated funds to remain in Tayrona to help better protect and manage the park, according to sustainable tourism.

Six Senses: A Sustainable Tourism Best Practice Company
      Six Senses – an internationally recognized sustainable tourism leader - seeks to develop a sustainable tourism resort at Arrecifes. Other countries in the Americas that have made sustainable tourism a priority, including Belize, Costa Rica, and Mexico, are trying to get Six Senses to come to their destinations and build a sustainable tourism model resort. But Six Senses has selected Colombia and Arrecifes as their first location in Central and South America. This is an important accomplishment for Colombia that will also help the country emerge as a sustainable tourism destination.

      Six Senses is one of only two companies in the world to have twice received the highest award in sustainable tourism development, the “Tourism for Tomorrow Awards,”  the most prestigious sustainable tourism award in the world. Six Senses received this award after a team of international sustainable tourism experts conducted an extensive on site evaluation of Six Senses resort practices, and determined that Six Senses is a world leader in eco-friendly tourism operations that helps to protect cultural and natural heritage, and delivers benefits to local people.

      For the last three years, Six Senses has organized a meeting of the world’s foremost thinkers and leaders on sustainability and conservation to promote sustainable tourism practices globally. In October 2011, this meeting included Richard Branson of Virgin Group, who has been spearheading efforts to develop renewable jet fuel; Tim Smit, founder of The Eden Project in UK;  Fabien Cousteau, marine conservationist and grandson of Jacques Cousteau;  Edward Norton, UN Ambassador for Biodiversity; Jakob von Uexkull, Founder of the World Future Council; President Nasheed of Maldives, who is the subject of a new documentary called “The Green President" for leading his small country to become the world’s first carbon neutral country by 2020, among other environmental activists and sustainability visionaries.

      Six Senses does not build big high rise tourist hotels like there are in Cancun or seven star resorts. They are not a company like Hilton or Marriott. Six Senses creates low-impact, low volume ecotourism resorts that focus on what they call “Intelligent Luxury” that is directly connected to protecting nature, supporting cultural heritage, and providing meaningful employment to local people. At Six Senses, Intelligent Luxury is defined as being in contact with nature, and learning and understanding nature, in a sustainable and responsible way. Luxury at Six Senses means to have more time for yourself and your family, and not to care about expensive clothes. In a speech in October 2011, Sonu Shivdasani, the Founder and CEO of Six Senses summed up Six Senses’ company philosophy this way: “The promise of business is to increase the general wellbeing of humankind through service. Making money on its own is totally meaningless. As a company, we want to be a force for good rather than just profit.”

      Colombia has never had anything before like a Six Senses resort committed to sustainable tourism best practice. A successful Six Senses project at Arrecifes will serve as a model for sustainable tourism development in the rest of Colombia to help Colombia develop its tourism economic potential in a way that protects the country’s cultural and natural heritage.

      The Six Senses project at Arrecifes will consist of low-impact and low-volume guest rooms made of local materials and blending with nature.  The rooms will be of less height than a coconut palm and follow an environmentally-sensitive design, using cultural details that reflect Colombia’s cultural heritage. It will train and provide employment to local people currently working as vendors and living in and around Tayrona National Park, and also assist them to create their own tourism businesses, including organic farming and local crafts, to source local supplies for the resort, ensuring that the local economy is directly supported.  Six Senses and the Colombian project developers at Arrecifes have brought together the top experts in the world in sustainable tourism for this project, helping Colombia to become a world class destination in sustainable tourism.

      Not all sustainable tourism is luxury. Sustainable tourism is a set of principles and practices that can, and should, be part of all levels of tourism development, from small budget hotels to luxury resorts. All tourism in Colombia should be committed to environmentally-friendly practices and operations, support for cultural and natural heritage, and deliver important economic and social benefits to local people. A Six Senses sustainable tourism resort in Tayrona will provide a best practice model for other kinds of tourism throughout the country and in other national parks.

      Six Senses uses the income from luxury travelers to support community development and protecting nature and biodiversity. For example, Six Senses bans plastic water bottles. This has eliminated plastic from the environment at their resorts and has led to company-wide savings of more than a quarter of a million dollars so far from eliminating plastic bottled water. Six Senses’ Social and Environmental program donates that savings to water charities, providing more than 200,000 people a year in rural areas with access to clean drinking water.

      Six Senses has a series of very complete training programs for local employees because their objective is to give local people the opportunity to be employed with Six Senses and to grow and develop professionally both in the company and to develop their own sustainable tourism businesses. Six Senses estimates that this project will include hiring of 250 local people to work full time in the Six Senses Resort at Arrecifes with an additional 100 people to be employed in the construction work. Along with sourcing of local supplies for both the construction using natural materials, as well as handicrafts to be used for art and decoration in the resort, in additional to local food products purchased for the resort, it is estimated that the project will supply a total of 250 permanent jobs along with 1000 additional jobs generated in the region.

      In addition to the Six Senses project at Arrecifes, a sustainable tourism master plan for Tayrona should also be put into place. Such a plan will save Tayrona from environmental damage though careless tourism development. Also, a successful sustainable tourism master plan for Tayrona can be a model for the other national parks in Colombia. If Tayrona succeeds as a sustainable tourism best practice national park, it will help Colombia to succeed as a leading sustainable tourism destination.






4 comentarios:

  1. VAYANSE AL CARAJO, AQUI NO QUEREMOS SU PORQUERIA DE HOTEL, QUEREMOS NUESTRO PARQUE TAL Y COMO ESTÁ, HAGANSE EL HOTEL EN COREA SI LES PARECE, NO LO VAMOS A PERMITIR!!

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  2. sorry, maybe you don't understand spanish, well GET OUT OF HERE!! WE WANT TAYRONA PARK AS IT IS, WE DON'T WANT YOUR HOTEL, GO AND BUILD IT AT KOREA, WE WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO DO THAT!!

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  3. LA SIERRA NEVADA DE SANTA MARTA, NUESTRO PARQUE TAYRONA ES UN LEGADO SAGRADO NATURAL Y CULTURAL, ES UN LUGAR DE CULTO NO QUEREMOS QUE PROFANEN NUESTRAS TIERRAS... EL TAYRONA ES UN PARAISO TAL Y COMO ESTA AHORA....EL PODER Y EL DINERO CORROMPEN, TODO EN ESTA VIDA ES UN KARMA.... Espero que ustedes no le sumen a su karma la destruccion de un patrimonio natural y cultural de la humanidad.

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