Towards Sustainable Tourism in the DR

[Keith R]

"Towards Sustainable Tourism for the DR"

Moderator's Note: The posts in this thread originally was in the Green Team blog entry announcement thread, but I moved them here so that the issue might get the standalone attention and debate it deserves, and the other thread doesn't get bogged down. -- Keith

[samanasuenos]

First things first, thanks for a very good read.

Now, is the tourist industry the biggest polluter? No offense, but my impression, you know silly old me, has been that the locals do more harm than good, and that out of ignorance.

So much for a run on sentence.

Now, what do I mean. Can you say Cayo Levantado and all the styrofoam and spoons that washed up after the 2004 storm? Because local vendors BURIED their trash in yet another short-term decision based in ignorance.

Yes, yes, I know that tourism can hurt, and believe me that I am anxious ot see how Samana will be impacted by this time next year.


After ranting here, I realize that the AIs do deal with lots of trash as well as lots of water, so your point has been taken.

Anyway, good read. Thanks so much! Where do you find all these goodies?
-- Sam

[Keith R]

Originally Posted by samanasuenos

Anyway, good read. Thanks so much! Where do you find all these goodies?
-- Sam

Well, as the intro to this piece says, Jaime wrote it for UNDP's 2005 Human Development Report on the DR. Jaime is currently working with USAID, the Environment Ministry and Fundacion Global on a sustainable tourism project. He's no neophyte to this subject. I've been trying to get him to write some new stuff for the blog, but he's so busy it's hard to pin him down long enough. [But maybe if we all twist his arm hard enough! LOL] Nonetheless, I thought it might be a good opener for other pieces we have planned on tourism-related issues...

If you've been reading the blog regularly, you know that we by no means are "letting the locals off the hook" for thier part in the DR's environmental problems. But as a huge employer, foreign investment magnet and contributor to the economy, as a huge consumer of energy and water and consumer goods, a huge producer of liquid and solid wastes, and a common link to a host of other issues (such as transport, reef management, etc.), we cannot left the tourism industry off the hook either.

P.S. Judging by your last post, you seem to think that by saying tourism industry, we mean only the AIs. Not so. We mean the whole ball of wax -- tour companies, bed-and-breakfasts, dive shops, hotels big and small, resorts, golf courses, amusement and water parks, tourist transports, cruises, beachside bars, restaurants and shops, etc etc. Even those short-sighted vendors you alluded to!

[samanasuenos]

But as a huge employer, foreign investment magnet and contributor to the economy, as a huge consumer of energy and water and consumer goods, a huge producer of liquid and solid wastes, and a common link to a host of other issues (such as transport, reef management, etc.), we cannot left the tourism industry off the hook either.[/QUOTE]


I am just wondering. What if we started a local non-profit for environmental improvement?

Then, once established, have dr1 reps visit the major hotels/resorts and get contributions for our well-thought out efforts.

Example:

We can educate local kids about not polluting by printing notebooks with catchy environmental sayings on them.

But who pays for the books?

HOTELS!!!!!!! The polluters with the deep pockets.

[gary short]

I wonder how it is that some towns are strewn with plastic and garbage, yet other towns, for example, El Portillo and Monte Negro, on the Samana Peninsula are spotless. I remember years ago in Belize people would'nt think twice about throwing any kind of garbage on the steet as long as it was in front of there neighbours place. All of a sudden the government and the populace realized that Joe Blow tourist was horrified, and overnight there was an ante litter campaign. Now don't think of littering mon.

[Keith R]

Gary, slowly but surely the tourist zones in the DR are catching on that many tourists are turned off by litter. In some cases individual hotels or groups of hotels are paying to have people regularly clean the beach. In Bayahibe, as part of the Blue Flag certification, the whole community is organizing clean-ups and putting trash receptacles in convenient spots (or so I'm told). And then there is the wonderful example of Cabrera, where locals and ex-pats involved in the tourism-related trade joined with the mayor to clean-up first their beaches, and now the town itself by forming a foundation called "Cabrera Verde."

We'll soon be doing individual Green Team blogs on the clean beaches issue generally, and on the Blue Flag and Cabrera Verde efforts in particular.

If you know of other examples of beaching working to clean up and keep clean tourist areas, please let us know and if possible, give us leads (greenteam@dr1.com) on how to contact the people responsible, and we'll do blogs on them too. We're convinced that the more people trying to do these things receive positive reinforcement, the more similar efforts will pop up elsewhere.

[Andy B]

"HOTELS!!!!!!! The polluters with the deep pockets." Well Sam, now we know where you stand in all this.

As a hotel owner who has been preaching to locals for years that trash is not appreciated by anyone, much less our lifeblood, the tourists, I resent the statement made by Samanasuenos that we hoteliers are responsible for the litter and open garbage seen almost everywhere in this country. Pardon my language but that is pure B.S! The Dominicans are responsible, everyone of them from the one on the beach drinking a bottle of rum who then throws it in the water, to the plastic cups flying out of the car on the highway in front of you, to the delivery truck drivers who clean out their cabs in front of my hotel entrance. We pick up the trash daily.

Until you educate the populace on the importance of anti-littering the problem will remain. We went through this in the US and so have other 1st world nations.
Do you remember the American indian with the tear in his eye that the "Keep America Beautiful" campaign so effectively used?

Some of the big A1's may be responsible for environmental pollution, but trash strewn beaches or street litter is not one of them and the hotels should not be asked or MADE to pay for a problem not of their making. And by the way, about 5 of us local Las Galeras hotels paid to clean the main beach after Semana Santa for a number of years until a few years ago when CEBSE organized a clean up by school kids. Regular beach cleaning is now being done by our new municipality (or is supposed to be done). We'll see.

Don't be so quick to lay blame until your ducks are in a row. Without tourism and it's hotels and sub-industries, the DR would falter even more seriously in this global economy. After all, what other natural resource does the DR have to offer that would generate the amount of revenue that tourism does? Pineapples? Heck, even Dole pulled out when that market fell to the government's greed.

[Keith R]

Much truth in what Andy says. I have seen many beaches in the DR where the real problem were the visitors, not the hotel guests or staff. As I mentioned before, in many cases, it is the hotels who are actually trying to keep things clean. Not all, mind you, but probably more than most people realize. Which is one of the reasons we'll be doing pieces on this for the GT blog.

Very glad to hear about the CEBSE activity. The more I hear about them, the more I am determined to do GT blog piece on their work. Now if I can just get them to answer e-mails.... LOL

Andy, I am interested to hear about the activities of the new municipality. Any chance you could take a few digital pics for the blog on how the municipality is or isn't doing its job on keeping things clean and related environment issues? PM or email me if possible. Thanks!

[Conchman]

On Cofresi beach it used to be - and continues to be - a situation where the locals make all the mess on Sundays and holidays and its Sun Village, Hacienda, and OceanWorld that gets to pay for the clean up. So you should be thanking the hotels, not slinging chitty mud at them.

[Keith R]

If you're interested in the subject of fostering sustainable tourism in the DR, please check out our blog two-part piece on eco-certification in the DR tourism industry:

http://www.dr1.com/blogs/entry.php?u...ment&e_id=1593
http://www.dr1.com/blogs/entry.php?u...ment&e_id=1598

If you disagree with these entries (for concrete reasons rather than emotional reaction or the desire to disagree just to disagree), or think we're missing some critical points to consider, we'd like to hear why, here in this thread and/or utilizing the comment function on the blog. Constructive feedback is key to improving the blog and its utility.