CASTRIES, St. Lucia – The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission says it is planning a regional consultation for the first quarter of this year aimed at shaping the tenets of the OECS Sustainable Tourism Policy.
OECS tourism officials at recent stakeholder engagementThe Commission says it will utilize strong policy development to generate effective programmatic implementation and that the final policy will guide the OECS Commission’s tourism work for the benefit of all its namely Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts-Nevis, Montserrat, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands.
The Commission said that it is making positive strides in working with the member countries on developing the new, more relevant, sustainable OECS Tourism Policy and that ministers of tourism from the sub-region have agreed that effective stakeholder engagement should be a critical component of the work to be undertaken.
“As such, the OECS Commission conducted a robust and extensive consultative process of focus groups and one-to-one interviews. To date missions have been completed in all the OECS protocol member states with the British and French Overseas Territories expected to be completed by the end of January 2024,” the Commission said, adding that the overall goal of the on-site missions is to identify priority policy areas for tourism development in the OECS region.
“We have always advocated that we must engage at a national level to seek to understand the needs of our member states before prioritizing regional activities. It is important that we listen to what tourism practitioners in the country have to say so we can determine the common tourism priorities that can be incorporated into a regional polic,” said OECS Director General, Dr. Didacus Jules.
“If we want greater community participation in tourism and increased benefits to our communities and countries we must seek the input of the widest cross section of industry participants, both in the public and private sectors, as well as those who may be impacted by tourism,” he added.
The Commission said that the success of these consultations is attributable to the collaboration with the ministries of tourism and the support and enthusiasm received from the OECS countries.
“The Commission recognizes that building solid partnerships is important for a successful outcome for the OECS Sustainable Tourism Policy. Generally, the discussions have centered on the importance placed on tourism, priority areas of focus, and measures, and actions needed to advance priority areas.”
The Commission said that the assessment includes identifying gaps and opportunities in new areas such as the blue economy. In addition to the overriding recognition of the importance of the tourism sector to the OECS economies, from the input to date, the new OECS Sustainable Tourism Policy must address areas such as climate action, crisis and disaster resilience, and consideration of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda (SDG).
