The World Centre of Excellence for Destinations (CED) and PATA are joining forces in the drive towards ‘real sustainability’ in destinations across the Asia Pacific region. A Memorandum of Understanding signed this week at ITB Berlin by Greg Duffell, Chief Executive Officer of PATA, and Andre Vallerand, President of CED, was witnessed by UNWTO Secretary General Taleb Rifai.

Greg Duffell considers the partnership, as exemplified by this agreement, to be extremely significant in the development of destinations across the Asia Pacific region. “Not only will we be able to develop and provide practical tools for use by our industry as it grows but we will do so at a level that recognises and works towards real sustainability whilst maintaining a sharp competitive edge” he said.

Mr. Vallerand is also very pleased with the signing of this partnership as it registers perfectly with the development plan of the CED mission, which is to contribute to bring destinations of the entire world towards excellence. “SMED offers the assessed destinations concrete and feasible recommendations, that will allow them to reach their targets of sustainable development, to develop their competitiveness, to improve the quality of the experience given to tourists and to reinforce their geographical character,” he said.

The CED, based in Montreal, is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the research and creation of tools to support the development of sustainable tourism for destinations around the world. The CED was created with the support of the UNWTO and National Geographic.