The Belize Tourism Board Attends its Third Annual Meeting for World Heritage Alliance

The Belize Tourism Board is a recent partner of the World Heritage Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (WHA). The Director of Marketing, Mrs. Shakira Oxley-Tsai and the Director of Finance & Administration, Mr. Evan Tillett, attended the third annual meeting for World Heritage Alliance at the UN Foundation in Washington, DC.

The World Heritage Alliance for Sustainable Tourism was founded by Expedia Inc. and the United Nations Foundation and consists of 50 members and partners working to contribute to World Heritage site conservation in 7 countries. It is a membership based initiative that works to support World Heritage conservation, sustainable tourism, and local economic development for communities in and around UNESCO World Heritage sites. WHA engages the travel industry to promote environmentally and economically sustainable tourism around the sites, and support sustainable development of local communities around the sites.

A welcome cocktail reception and dinner was held to celebrate the accomplishments of the WHA and its membership, and to formally welcome new members. WHA members also had the opportunity to network with key partners including renowned media, travel industry constituents and governmental bodies.

During the morning session of the member assembly, the WHA Secretariat and the governing body briefed the WHA members and presented the formal WHA structure. The members are partners were divided into groups by geographical destinations to discuss key opportunities and strategies to enhance their common goal of promoting and preserving World Heritage sites in their respective destinations.

This alliance presents Belize with a unique opportunity to grow destination's efforts to conservation and preservation and to tap into strategic opportunities that compliment Belize's tourism industry.

The goal of WHA is to galvanize widespread support for World Heritage conservation, sustainable tourism, and local economic development for communities in and around World Heritage sites.

Representing Belize were the Belize Tourism Board, Whipraye Caye Lodge, Black Orchid Resort and COMPACT.