Travel Foundation Tobago to exhibit its projects to HRH the Prince of Wales

The Travel Foundation Tobago will have an opportunity to showcase its projects to Royalty when His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall visit an exhibition of projects mounted by the foundation at the Coco Reef Resort and Spa on Thursday 6th March.

The Royal party is visiting Tobago on their Caribbean tour.  After leaving Tobago they are scheduled to visit St Lucia, Montserrat and Jamaica.

The exhibition at the Coco Reef will focus on projects being done by the Foundation in Tobago, which are all designed to make British tourism to the island more sustainable and ensure that it provides real benefits to the community whilst protecting the environment and preserving wildlife.

The foundation is proud to be one of the NGOs in Tobago chosen to showcase its work to the Royal party.  The Prince of Wales is known for his keen interest in sustainability and the environment, and this is a prime opportunity for the foundation to demonstrate the work being doing in Tobago with the help of British tour operators, the Tobago tourism industry and the local community

The Royal party will be welcomed by Sue Hurdle, chief executive of the Travel Foundation, and by Chris James MBE (chairman) and Rosemarie Thomas (programme coordinator) of the Travel Foundation Tobago.

The Travel Foundation set up a programme in Tobago in 2004 and since then has established a number of successful projects that promote and facilitate socially, environmentally and economically sustainable tourism.   The Foundation in Tobago is managed via a Regional Director and a Steering Committee representing key stakeholders in the island’s dominant tourism sector, including local hoteliers, restaurateurs, fishermen, farmers and NGOs.   The committee meets once a month to review current projects and consider new proposals.

In 2006 The Travel Foundation Tobago won an award for its “Adopt a Farmer” programme at the First Choice Responsible Tourism Awards at the World Travel Market tradeshow in November 2006.  Like all other Travel Foundation initiatives in Tobago, the Adopt A Farmer programme seeks to provide sustainable entrepreneurial opportunities for local communities that help them improve their standard of living, as well as Increase the volume and quality of goods and services available locally. 

Other projects which are helping to optimize tourism benefits in Tobago for local communities are the School Garden Project, Creative Machine Embroidery Project and a Practical Skills in Beekeeping Project. 

The Foundation also focuses on initiatives that demonstrate conservation of the environment through projects in waste management, composting and a sustainable seafood awareness campaign, being done in collaboration with the Buccoo Reef Trust.

Over the next three years, the Travel Foundation Tobago will manage a Regional Replication Programme which will seek to replicate several of the trialed Tobago projects in other Caribbean islands, beginning with St. Lucia, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.

Travel Foundation projects are funded in part by the British Foreign Commonwealth office, as well as small donations from over a million British holidaymakers who travel with fundraising tour operators, and by corporate donations from the travel industry.  Supporters include TUI Group (First Choice and Thomson), Thomas Cook Group (Thomas Cook and MyTravel), Virgin Holidays, Cosmos, Sunvil and Explore.