EC Donates €8 Million to Spearhead Sustainable Tourism Projects in the Caribbean
Regional tourism has benefited from another injection of funds from the European Commission (EC).
Parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and International Transport Senator Rudy Grant made this announcement yesterday while addressing the official launch of the Caribbean Regional Sustainable Tourism Development Program at the Accra Beach Hotel and Resort, Christ Church.
He told the gathering that the most recent grant of 8 million euros was a continuation of a process in which the Caribbean Forum of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (CARIFORUM) member countries received from the EC grants of 9 million and 12.8 million Euros under the 6th and 7th European Development Fund (EDF), respectively.
He further said an additional 3 million euros was allocated to the Organization of Eastern Caribbean (OECS) sub-region under the 6th EDF grant.
The grant to the OECS countries was used to support tourism development through the implementation of co-tourism projects, site development projects as well as airport development.
The tourism official pointed out that the overall objective of the program was to contribute to economic growth and poverty alleviation of the CARIFORUM member countries through increased competitiveness and sustainability of the tourism sector.
Grant said: “In this regard, the program´s purpose is to foster the sustainability and competitiveness of the regional tourism sector through the establishment of a sustainable development policy framework; strengthen regional institutional capacities; develop human resources and support small operators through business development.”
He stressed that the injection of EC development funds to CARIFORUM under successive EDF programs underscored the fact that tourism has been consistently assigned as a priority area, due to the importance of tourism to the region.
Highlighting the importance of the tourism sector to the region, Grant said travel and tourism accounted for approximately 14.8 per cent of the total gross domestic product.
