Title: Sustainable tourism in the Caribbean: the role of the accommodations sector

Authors: Don Charles

Addresses: Department of Economics, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract: The Caribbean region is highly dependent upon tourism. However, in order to continue to use tourism as a means of economic advancement, sustainable practices must be adopted. The Caribbean accommodations sector has adopted a number of environmental best practices to prolong tourism's product life cycle. This study found that internal factors were the main factors for the accommodations sector adopting sustainable practices. The cost saving from energy conservation, water conservation and solid waste management was the main motive for adopting sustainable practices. The actions of the accommodations sector are insufficient to for environmental preservation and there is need for government intervention for the coordination of action and policy measures.

Keywords: sustainable tourism; sustainable development; Caribbean; green economics; sustainability; accomodation; energy conservation; water conservation; solid waste management; environmental preservation; environmental protection; government intervention.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGE.2013.057447

International Journal of Green Economics, 2013 Vol.7 No.2, pp.148 - 161

Published online: 13 Sep 2014 *

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