The Caribbean Prepares to Host the Region’s Culture and Tourism Ministers

As the Governments of Haiti and Barbados prepare to host the upcoming high-level policy dialogue on Culture (Port-au-Prince, August 12-13) and Tourism (Bridgetown, September 3-4), the Ministers from both countries visited the organization, highlighting the importance of these gatherings to define common priorities and identify potential cooperation actions in these areas.

During the week of July 21, the Minister of Culture of Haiti, Monique Rocourt, and the Minister of Tourism and International Transport of Barbados, Richard Sealy addressed Member States in the framework of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI). The Ministers presented the progress made in preparation for the Sixth Inter-American Meeting of Ministers of Culture and Highest Appropriate Authorities, and the XXII Inter-American Congress of Ministers and High-Level Authorities of Tourism, respectively.

Minister Rocourt of Haiti reflected on the theme selected by her government for the high-level meeting's Declaration “Cultural Interdependence in the Context of Globalization”, to be adopted by authorities next month. "I anticipate that the statement should reflect the intrinsic value of culture as something unique and inseparable, and therefore should be a driving element of the process of economic development by strengthening identity as a factor for social inclusion and the fight against poverty through the creation of income."

Culture touches on several areas of OAS-SEDI’s work, particularly in the promotion of creative industries and the links with improving competitiveness in small businesses, innovation, trade, and tourism. Precisely these intersectoral linkages between culture and tourism will be discussed in Port-au-Prince and feed into the discussions on Tourism in Bridgetown, to focus on the theme “Tourism Competitiveness: An Essential Component of Sustainability”.

For his part, in his presentation at the OAS Minister Sealy addressed the central theme chosen by his government and emphasized that “tourism is not only an economic activity that generates employment and foreign exchange, but is also a catalyst for achieving other strategic objectives related to community development, cultural preservation, environmental management and social inclusion. Furthermore, it is among the top three income earners in almost fifty percent of the OAS Member States.”

In line with this, the OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, noted that “In the Americas, revenue from tourism in 2013 was $229 billion, or about 20% of world tourism revenues. Tourism is an important activity for nearly all the economies of the member countries of the OAS and for many of them it is their main source of foreign exchange.”

The convergence of policy dialogue on related issues such as culture and tourism at the heart of the organization, illustrate the unique value of the OAS in the area of development. As a unique forum to advance sectoral debate and coordination, the OAS also facilitates inter-sectoral dialogue and cross-fertilization that serve as input to guide programmatic focus and cooperation actions for development.

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