BTB Participates In Corporate Social Responsibility Workshop In St. Lucia

Representative from the Belize Tourism Board, Ms. Romy Haylock, attended a workshop in St. Lucia from September 14th – September 16th, 2009 implemented by the Executive Secretariat for Integral Development (SEDI) of the OAS.

The three-day workshop was entitled: Promoting Corporate Social Responsibility in Small & Medium Enterprises in the Tourism Industry in the Caribbean. The focus of the workshop was aimed at creating a broad understanding of CSR in general and more specifically its relevance to the tourism industry.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a management concept that can be implemented by companies to integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and interactions with their stakeholders to realize a balance of economic, environmental, and social imperatives reflecting social conscience and at the same time addressing the expectations of their shareholders and stakeholders.

The target audience included Public Sector Representatives who can promote and encourage CSR initiatives in the tourism SMEs in the region and Private Sector tourism practitioners who can engage in CSR within their tourism activities.

At the end of the workshop, participants were able to create awareness of CSR and its relevance to the Caribbean Tourism Industry; build the capacity of tourism practitioners in the Caribbean to engage in CSR activities and integrate them into their operations, as well as provide tools/resources to enable implementation of CSR initiatives in the Caribbean Tourism Industry.