Costa Rica hosts the Sustainable & Social Tourism Summit

The ninth edition of the Sustainable & Social Tourism Summit kicked off yesterday and will run until Friday, May 23rd. Speakers from more than eleven countries and over 300 participants from across Latin America are meeting for the first time in Costa Rica, the venue for this important event, which has previously been held in Mexico.

In addition to bringing together tourism industry professionals, this conference also serves as a platform to share best practices and promote public policies that contribute to promoting sustainable and social tourism, this time under the theme "Tourism from a Community Perspective."

Within this framework, the Central American Tourism Council (CCT) held a session today, attended by the ministers of Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Costa Rica, which holds the Pro Tempore Presidency.

As part of the most relevant agreements reached, member countries reaffirmed their commitment to the "Capacity Building for the Promotion of Sustainable Community Tourism in the Region" project, promoted by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Likewise, the International Social Tourism Organization (ISTO) presented the "Methodological Guide for the Creation of Innovative Products with a Focus on Social Tourism," which was launched in Guatemala this month and is part of the initiatives promoted by this organization and the Secretariat for Central American Tourism Integration (SITCA).

As a highlight, Costa Rica's Minister of Tourism, William Rodríguez, symbolically signed the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism. It was announced that SITCA will also join the Summit in compliance with the Environment and Tourism Agenda Roadmap 2024-2026.

“As the Pro Tempore Presidency of the CCT, we thank the Council members for their participation in this meeting, which is taking place within the framework of the ninth edition of the Sustainable & Social Tourism Summit, an international event being held for the first time in the SICA region; this represents a highly significant milestone in regional tourism,” stated William Rodríguez, Minister of Tourism of Costa Rica.

For his part, Fernando Mandri, president of the Sustainable & Social Tourism Summit, extended a warm welcome to the ninth edition of the Summit, which is being held for the first time in the region of member countries of the Central American Integration System (SICA). He also expressed his gratitude for the support of the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) and all those who have made this important event possible on Costa Rican soil.

A look at the Sustainable & Social Tourism Summit

Today, at the opening ceremony, the "Sustainable and Social Tourism in Latin America Award" will be presented.

On Thursday the 22nd and Friday the 23rd, the talks will continue with topics including the challenges facing sustainable tourism in Central America, capacity building for promoting community-based tourism, short supply chains for regenerative tourism, the climate emergency, and the Costa Rican experience in tourism and biodiversity, among others. Representatives from Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Spain, Japan, and Panama will also participate.

This sustainable and social tourism forum is considered the most important in Latin America. In its eight previous editions, it has brought together more than 4,800 tourism professionals from more than 50 countries on five continents and more than 390 international speakers.

This event is aimed at professionals directly or indirectly involved in tourism, the environment, and social development. It includes business leaders, national, state, and municipal authorities, representatives of organizations committed to sustainability, developers and investors in the hotel and real estate sectors, consultants, researchers, and academics, members of non-governmental organizations, the general public interested in trends in sustainable and social tourism, and local, national, and international press. 

Source: ICT.