The importance of public-private alliances as a catalyst that facilitates the incorporation of the Orange Economy and Creative Industries was a fundamental axis in the panels and exhibitions during the third edition of the Caribbean Orange Forum, an activity organized by Switch Havas and SIP Group, where national and international experts presented success stories that show how this articulation between the public and the private affects the creation of more responsible and committed cultural tourist destinations from the perspective of sustainability.
During the panel “Economic Development through Sustainable Tourism”, Sigmund Freund, executive director of the General Directorate of Public-Private Partnerships, emphasized that the projects that the Dominican State supports under this modality must generate positive social impact and respond with a series of methodologies that ensure compliance and the generation of direct benefits for society, communities and the environment.
The official cited the case of the Cabo Rojo project being built in Pedernales, as the first around which a study of the tourist load was carried out to determine the number of people who can be on the Bahía de las Águilas beach at the same time. , a solid waste management plan that will come into effect from the start of operations of the first hotel, as well as a survey of all the flora in the area that has been transplanted in nurseries to later be used in the ornamentation and landscaping of the infrastructure. that there they rise.
Isabel Piñero CSO Chief Sustainability Officer of Grupo Piñero, a Spanish company with 50 years in the tourism sector, emphasized that sustainability constitutes a transversal axis in the management of its businesses based on social, environmental and governance criteria, aligned with the Objectives of Sustainable Development and respect for human rights.
He highlighted that within this line of work is the incorporation of culture, artisans and local producers who belong to the communities where their hotels operate.
“Cayo Levantado Resort is an example of this because its design incorporates the work of local architects and artisans and within its complementary offer the inclusion of art and direct contact with community experiences.”
While in the discussion “Cultural and Sustainable Tourist Leader” Jake Kheel, director of the Grupo Puntacana Foundation, emphasized that sustainability in business seeks to create a balance between communities, the environment and economic resources by generating behavioral changes of behaviors in people.
Kheel stated that the challenges created by sustainability are responded to with creative proposals that must be presented from different destinations and in this way influence the visitor to respect and protect the community they visit, celebrating local culture, gastronomy, history, natural resources and the environment, which in the end are the assets that really attract the attention of foreigners who visit us.
In the panel “Banking as a driver of cultural and sustainable tourism” representatives of the banks BANRESERVAS, Popular and BHD, reaffirmed the commitment that this sector has with the generation of data that allows making robust decisions, as well as continuing to create products that will in support of the development of creative industries as fundamental elements to achieve a cultural tourism offer that strengthens the identity of our destination in international markets.
The commitment to the cultural and creative industry has also distinguished brands such as Altice, Aerodom and Presidente, according to executives from these companies who participated in the panel “Innovative brands and products that promote cultural and sustainable tourism”, moderated by Eduardo Valcárcel .
In this way, these brands have been linked to the orange economy over the years, through different musical, cinematographic, folkloric and cultural platforms, agreeing that a fundamental element has been consistency over time in order to strengthen the identity. national, inside and outside the Dominican territory.
Juan E. Bauzá-Bayrón, Puerto Rican Integration Economics consultant, addressed in his conference on “Orange Economy as the axis of the Interdependencies of Sustainable Economic Development”, sustainability as an economic issue that is measured at the risk level, facilitating the analysis of metrics to know the interdependence of the different systems that intervene in it, such as the social, ecological and governance components, and incorporate the results of these analyzes into decision-making in management processes.
During his lecture Bauzán-Bayrón reported that the global sustainable tourism market in 2022 was valued at 3.3 trillion dollars.