Attending the importance of cooperation among the different entities in the tourism sector to strengthening the development of tourism in the Caribbean, Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST) and Confederacion de Organizaciones Turisticas de America Latina (COTAL) has signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to the joint support of both institutions for initiatives that promote sustainability of Caribbean tourism industry.

As a first joint project, it provides the potential for an initiative to raise awareness of the use of regulations to apply in visits to areas declared as world heritage or protected and/or national parks and protection standards. To achieve this goal, operators as well as tour guides in particular will be trained to bring home to tourists:

- The importance of conservation ecology and the need for all of our participation in this process and how to get involved in the preservation of the environment.
- Provide information to tourists about the evolution that led to the formation of the natural wealth of the visited areas.
- Communicate to the visitor the participation that natural resources have in the environment and thus, in our lives.

There will also be an awareness campaign to allow man to get closer to nature and to his history and culture, leading to greater awareness of natural wealth and the importance of conservation through educational programs that will enable man to contribute to the care of these products by:

- Implementing courses and workshops for training and education relating to the subject matter.
-  Establishing institutional slogans related to the conservation and protection of natural, historical and cultural resources.
- Conducting a promotional information campaign on the importance of the resources already mentioned, in print, CD, participation in radio and television, articles in newspapers and participation in commercial displays.
- Realization of projects with specific contributions which would bear the name of each sponsoring company to help in the recovery of environmental, historic and cultural areas.

The agreement was signed by Sir Royston O. Hopkin, KCMG, Chairman of CAST; and Luis Felipe Aquino, President of COTAL. Actively involved in assisting the process were Jose Mella, President of Dominican Travel Agents and Tourism Association (ADAVIT), and Tirso Cabral, President of Asociacion de Guias de Turismo de la Republica Dominicana (AGTRD).