Cuba implements measures to develop sustainable tourism in the country

CIEGO DE AVILA, Cuba, Dec 9 (ACN) In an effort to establish new management paradigms in the tourist industry, the international Sustainable Tourism project is making progress in the creation and strengthening of capacities in key actors of hotel facilities in Varadero and Jardines del Rey, renowned sun and beach destinations in Cuba and the Caribbean.

MSc. Nuria Davila Fernandez, an expert in Standardization, Metrology and Quality issues, valued the importance of training processes that support the implementation of ISO 14 000, 14 001 and 50 001 quality standards -referring to environmental and energy management systems, respectively- in hotels in the places where the project is taking place.

Specialists of the Cuban Standardization System, mainly from the Center for Quality Management and Development, Cubaenergia, the territorial offices of Standardization and the Matanzas Environmental Services Center and the Ciego de Avila Coastal Ecosystems Research Center, are participating in the training of tourism workers whose functions are directly related to quality management, environmental sustainability and energy efficiency.

Davila Fernandez considered it a strength that the project includes among its components the use and implementation of the aforementioned regulations, with the challenge of certifying their compliance in numerous hotel facilities to continue aligning the sector with international trends and respond to the demands of customers who prefer environmentally responsible tourism.

The expert in Standardization, Metrology and Quality added that, in the tourist facilities involved in the project, they also carried out diagnostics to determine which are in a position to make progress in the implementation of the aforementioned regulations, as well as the actions to be taken by others to reach higher levels.

The project will provide the necessary incentives for the tourism sector to change its usual operating dynamics and improve its long-term sustainability, according to a report by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Cuba.
Over six years (2023-2029) it will contribute to the sustainability of tourism, incorporating the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and climate change mitigation in vulnerable marine-coastal zones, through the design and implementation of innovative management models, and the development of capacities and financial mechanisms.

This global initiative is implemented by the Institute of Ecology and Systematics of the Environment Agency, with the support of UNDP and financial support from the Global Environment Facility.