Dubai, CMC: Belize will host the inaugural World Sustainable Travel and Hospitality Awards next year, allowing the country to showcase its sustainability practices on the global stage.
“There is a real opportunity for Belize to share this best practice with the world. It is only going to be through that sharing and that storytelling of the kind of how we all know that. We all know the why,” said Justin Cooke, the executive president of World Travel Awards.
“We don’t know how, and that is, I suppose, what Belize can bring to the world. It’s like this is how we can do it. And by sharing these stories, we can help others tell their story,” he told the event on the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 28).
Chief Executive Officer of the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, Glenn Mandziuk, said, “What better place on earth to showcase sustainability at its very best,”
He said he was recognized by the travel industry’s premier awards program, the World Travel Awards, which honors trailblazers in global tourism, airlines, hotels, and hospitality. He said the global event is expected to put Belize on the international stage for its sustainability practices in tourism.
“Having this happen in a country that showcases it the right, with members from the hospitality industry, a commitment to tourism and tourism development, is the right place. And it is the right message from where we need to take sustainability into the future because it has to start at the grassroots for it to blossom into the whole world embracing it.
“The tourism industry has a compelling opportunity to be the guardians of the planet and the stewards, and Belize has showcased how it can be done and should be done. And so, I think that’s why this is an opportunity to bring the world to Belize to see it in action,” he added.
The Belize Ministry of Tourism and Diaspora Relations chief executive officer, Nicole Solano said the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country is recognized as a destination with a solid commitment to responsible tourism.
“This is the first of its kind under the World Travel Awards banner. The importance of having sustainable companies in tourism feature through this award is what the objective is. So, they were looking for a destination that is known or is exemplary in terms of sustainable tourism, and what other destination is better than Belize?
“Belize isn’t known globally for that because we have been limited in our reach. But, being involved in an award like this will elevate us and bring visibility on a global scale,” she added..”
The award will take place on SSept 27, World Tourism Day. It will include over 40 categories.
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