The private tourism sector is committed to the issue of climate change, because it is one of the sectors affected by this problem and is fully aware of the importance of the work carried out by the National Council for Climate Change and Clean Development Mechanism.
The proposal came from Enrique de Marchena Kaluche, lawyer and former president of the Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic (ASONAHORES) and the Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Caribbean (CHTA), when interviewed by Julissa Céspedes and Jean Suriel in the program 55 Minutos.
He explained that the sector’s commitment is mirrored in the actions it has taken with respect to sargassum, actions which, unfortunately, are still individual palliatives because no real solution has been reached.
De Marchena proposed to underpin a joint effort between the public and the private sectors, in tune with this government’s approach where, with a correct policy, public-private partnerships have been an example of success, starting with the tourism sector, free zones, and other areas of the national economy.
“I believe the issue of climate change calls for a public-private partnership with a shared committed engagement, because what we can potentially see with issues such as drought is that, if we continue developing the country without factoring in the environment and the threats to it, if there’s no balance between development and sustainability, at some point we will have problems and what we have to do is address the possible causes of the problems before we suffer their consequences,” said De Marchena.
De Marchena mentioned that tourism and hotel companies such as Grupo Puntacana, one of the pioneers in the field of environmental sustainability in the country, and the Meliá and Iberoestar hotel chains, have assumed sustainability, resilience, and care for the environment with specific policies. He also referred to the importance given to the environmental issue by North American hotel chains, citing that many of these companies are listed on the stock exchange and cannot afford a misleading offer.
In short, he said, “I am suggesting we do the homework before solutions are imposed from outside. Cleary, if we only tip the balance towards development and ignore sustainability, very soon, we will have many problems.”
Source:
Resumen Turismo
