Just a quick note to inform the gloCatravellers about our gloCal page on Facebook… We invite all people who have contacted us for suggestions, sent feedback about the site, booked a holiday with us, or who just share our views in displaying a link to us on their profile, by clicking on ‘Become a fan” on the above page.

This will help us immensely in spreading the gloCaltravel philosophy and in raising awareness about the impact of our travel choices on the local destinations, their environment and economy.

Nominations are open for the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards 2008, founded and organised by responsibletravel.com with UK media partners Telegraph Travel and Geographical Magazine, and World Travel Market, hosting the Awards ceremony in November 2008 in London. The deadline for the nominations is Monday 16 June.

Justin Francis, founder of Responsibletravel, announced that there are 13 categories this year including, for the first time, Best Responsible Cruise Operator. He said: ‘the cruise and ferry industry has received a great deal of attention recently concerning its impact on local environments and our aim is to encourage and reward positive and innovative changes’.

As I have commented on responsibletravel’s blog and Planeta’s Forum, I think the inclusion of this category in an award that ‘celebrates the future of travelling in a sensitive, sustainable way - that benefits local people and destinations’ is totally inappropriate. Even though some cruise operators are planning to improve their energy efficiency and waste management, the industry is still one of the most unsustainable examples of tourism, both for its heavy impact on the environment and for its all inclusive formula.

Francis said that if there is not a credible ‘winner’ they will not make an Award in this category, which would make a statement in its own right. I am wondering what sort of credible winner they are looking for.

There has been a 30% increase of cruise holidays in the past year and I don’t think this growth should be encouraged any further. I am not against rewarding positive changes, but including this industry in a responsible tourism award might sound a bit like legitimating green-washing.

I am not sure also about the category ‘Best in a marine environment’ (awarding an organisation related to a beach or other marine environment, such as turtle conservation or a marine eco-tourism trip) being sponsored by Royal Caribbean…

A few weeks ago I read on Travelmole Newswire about the Turks and Caicos islands (an archipelago of 40 islands and cayes located 914 kilometres from Miami southeast of the Bahamas), giving the Caribbean region its “first green island” as part of the government’s sustainable tourism program. Premier Michael Misick told journalists that “Any new development will be consistent with that philosophy (of sustainable development)”

The future green island is Salt Cay, once the center of the Bermudan salt industry. It is recommended as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and occupies a surface of 2.5 mile, which makes it one of the smallest of the 9 inhabited islands. I was curious about knowing more about the whole archipelago, so here follows a brief overview of the development on the main islands, according to the Turks and Caicos tourism website (with some personal considerations):

1 - Providenciales (38 square miles) is the most developed island and the international flights hub. It offers superb beaches and all modern conveniences, including luxurious hotels, villas and condos, numerous restaurants, spas and shopping facilities, and a championship caliber golf course (please note that the islands have limited natural fresh water resources and private cisterns collect rainwater for drinking, which makes you wonder about the sustainability of such a golf course).

2 - Grand Turk (6 square miles) is the capital island of the Turks and Caicos, its historical heartbeat, and home to a state of the art luxury cruise ship center (about the sustainability of the cruise ship industry I would recommend reading Chapter 8 of Leo Hickman, The Final Call)

3 - North Caicos (41 square miles) has undergone a development transformation, with several luxury resort properties underway. It is evolving as a ‘getaway’ from the more developed Providenciales and boasts the largest flock of Pink Flamingos in the islands (they surely must be thrilled about the island’s transformation!)

4 - South Caicos (8.5 square miles) is the fishing capital of the islands and attracts visitors for its fishing, birdlife, history, fresh seafood dishes and diving. (we can only hope that there are some fishing and diving regulations…)

5 - The largest of the islands, Middle Caicos is 48 square miles of natural beauty. Frigate Bird colony resides on south side of the island and you will also find Flamingos, Egrets, Sand Pipers. A large blue hole just offshore in shallow water features an abundant variety of marine life. The island’s Northwest Point is a combination of beautiful inlets, marshes, mangroves and in land ponds, which serve as a haven for bird life. (This sounds to me like a perfect green island! Any sustainable development plan for this one?)

6 - Parrot Cay is a thousand acre island hosting the ultra luxurious and very private vacation hideaway Parrot Cay Resort and Spa, called by some the world’s most exclusive resort. Movie stars enjoy the solitude and anonymity (bless them!)

7 - Pine Cay had no permanent population until The Meridan Club was built here in the 1970s. It is a privately owned island and the club presents itself as ‘an environmentally sensitive resort. From their website: ‘Barefoot informality, sensitivity to the natural environment and a commitment to strictly regulate development compliment an alluring tropical setting’.

8 - Ambergris Cay was uninhabited for nearly five centuries. Now approximately 100 estate sites from one to ten acres are offered through the Turks and Caicos Sporting Club development. Also here, they say an environmentally sensitive and sustainable development plan is being strictly adhered to. Amenities will include a small five-star hotel and spa, yacht club, comprehensive concierge services and extensive security. Access is limited to a deep water marina and a runway suitable for corporate jets.

There are also two cayes once inhabited which are now under development: West Caicos will become the future home of the most exclusive Ritz Carlton community in the world, and Dellis Cay is currently under contract to the O Property Collection for the development of a multi-use property which will be run by the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group.

With this broader picture in mind, I feel the government should show a more serious commitment in the preservation of this environmentally sensitive archipelago, a part of which was designated a Ramsar site in 1990 (the Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, vital for the preservation of the coasts from hurricanes and of the aquatic and bird life), and yet it seems that nothing can stop development, with international hotel groups buying whole cayes and making them off-limits by the locals but accessible to corporate jets.

The islands are presently a British overseas territory and their economy is based on tourism, fishing, and (suprise!) offshore financial services. By a nation that is so proud in lining up amongst the world leading countries in the fight against environmental exploitation and for a more equitable distribution of the wealth you would expect some more radical initiatives than ‘the dedication of a wee island to sustainable development’.

Resources:

Article on Travelmole Newswire
Turks and Caicos islands on Wikipedia
Turks and Caicos tourism website

Pachico Mayoral was featured on NBC Nightly News on March 21 2008.

The Mayoral family are amongst the pioneers of whale watching in the whole Baja Peninsula and started running whale trips in the San Ignacio lagoon in the the mid/early-seventies.

Don Pachico is an ecological defender who in the 90s fought against a big salt extraction development project near San Ignacio lagoon to protect the gray whale’s breeding environment. His whale watching tours are ‘harass-free’ and focused on conservation.

Watch the NCB video

The last calves are now ready to leave San Ignacio lagoon for their for the northbound migration. This is the last chance to see them, and the best time to start planning an amazing encounter with the friendly gray whale for the next season.

It has been a long time since our last post, as it is not easy running a business and keeping up with everything while travelling, especially with the sometimes precarious Internet connections and most of our time spent on the road.

We are now at the end of our this long journey which lasted over 6 months - and as it always happens when you are doing something you like – I can not believe it is already March and that I am on my way back to Europe.

We have been travelling quite a few miles through Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras, visiting new destinations, discovering interesting lodging options, and getting in touch with local guides and small ecotourism operators to offer our customers a wider choice of options for planning their eco-holidays in Mexico and (soon) in other Central American countries.

I’d like to think I have a decent knowledge of Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, and feel confident I can give good advice to customers looking to travel in these countries. I am also pleased that we could spend a reasonable amount of time in Honduras, being the only ‘new territory’ in our trip, which turned out to be a very pleasant discovery.

Our initial travel plan also included a trip to Nicaragua and maybe Panama, but while on the road we decided to travel at a much slower pace. This allowed us to get to know the locals and experience the different regions’ culture, food and rhythms.

I still can not believe the number of people we have met in these past months who were visiting 4 or 5 countries in 3 weeks, spending most of their time on buses and planes. Not to mention some travel companies who recruit as ‘tour leaders’ people who have been to a country ‘at least twice’ (maybe for a week each time?)

I would recommend to anyone to take a longer time off work whenever possible, travel less miles and gain a richer experience from every destination.

On that note, I will be doing my best to promote the ‘Travel Slow’ philosophy with all my clients (read more about it on Planeta.com), making it one of our aims for 2008. I will also continue following the ‘Do not swim with the dolphins’ campaign as well as looking further into government regulations on tourist development in environmentally sensitive areas (a post will be coming out soon on that so please continue to follow or subscribe to our blog if this interests you)

All this, together with the development of the new gloCal websites dedicated to Guatemala, Belize and Honduras should keep us busy for a while…