The Creative Tourism Network®, in collaboration with the UNESCO Regional Office in Havana, has unveiled the Caribbean Creative Tourism Awards — a new initiative aimed at honoring innovative tourism models that fuse cultural creativity with sustainability across the Caribbean region.
According to unesco.org, these awards aim to recognize the excellence of the Caribbean tourism by highlighting the diversity of local cultures and the entrepreneurial talent of young professionals, helping to foster a sustainable and beneficial tourism ecosystem.
The Caribbean Creative Tourism Awards aim to identify and honour a wide range of stakeholders and initiatives across the Caribbean region that use creativity as a vehicle for sustainable tourism development.
Whether creative workshops, hotels of different types, local operators, events or destinations themselves, this call for applications is open to all cultural, creative and tourism stakeholders in the Caribbean.
Applicants can submit their projects in the following categories:
- Best Caribbean Creative Destination
- Best Caribbean Creative Tourism Strategy (implemented or theoretical)
- Best Caribbean Creative Tourism Experiences
- Best Caribbean Creative Accommodations (B&Bs, hostels, hotels, resorts, campsites, eco-lodges, etc.)
- Best Caribbean Creative Tourism Event
- Best Caribbean Creative Travel Agency / Tour Operator / Travel Organizer / Travel Consultant
- Best Caribbean Artist Residency / Creative Hub
- Best Caribbean Creative Services
- Best Caribbean Creative Tourism Promotion Campaign
Subcategories have also been created to highlight the specificities and virtues of each destination, project or strategy presented, based on the Sustainable Development Goals achieved.
This initiative is part of a collaboration between the Creative Tourism Network® and the programme Transcultura: Integrating Cuba, the Caribbean and the European Union through Culture and Creativity, a five-year programme implemented by the UNESCO Regional Office in Havana with the financial support of the European Union, aimed at promoting the creation of economic opportunities through culture, creativity and sustainable development.
It complements two training and mentoring programmes led by the Creative Tourism Network® for cultural and tourism professionals and entrepreneurs in the Caribbean. These capacity-building initiatives enabled participants to design and implement creative tourism experiences rooted in their cultural identities and community values.
Integrating the Cultural and Creative industries into the tourism sector fosters economic diversification, job creation and the promotion of local entrepreneurship. By strengthening these activities, we encourage the creation of unique, value-added products and services rooted in local culture. This not only attracts more visitors, but also ensures that communities benefit directly from tourism.
Anne LemaistreDirector of the UNESCO Regional Office in Havana
The Caribbean is investing heavily in creative tourism as a transformative approach towards a more sustainable and inclusive tourism model and these Awards aim to support each stakeholder in this new ecosystem.
Caroline CouretDirector of the Creative Tourism Network®
The Caribbean Creative Tourism Awards are a continuation of the World Creative Tourism Awards, created by the Creative Tourism Network®, which in previous editions have recognized destinations such as Indonesia, New Orleans, Salvador de Bahia and Easter Island, as well as projects such as the Candeal experience by Carlinhos Brown, among others.
