Publicly launched by Sustainable Travel International in March 2014, and endorsed by the UNWTO, the Sustainable Destinations Alliance for the Americas (SDAA) is an innovative public-private partnership with a shared commitment to building resilience in local communities, improving the way tourism is managed, and enhancing competitiveness in 30 destinations across the Caribbean and Latin America. The SDAA demonstrates how sustainably managed tourism can be efficiently scaled at a regional level to improve lives and protect the environment.

The SDAA Partners are working to:

• Maximize the beneffits of tourism for local communities and residents
• Protect the region’s natural and cultural assets by conserving its land and marine resources
• Embed sustainability practices in the day-to-day management and marketing of destinations

A Collaborative Approach

Sustainable Travel International collaborates with stakeholders to accomplish the following activities in each SDAA destination:

- Evaluate the destination’s sustainability status based on globally recognized criteria and indicators to identify potential risks and opportunities.
- Develop destination-specific action projects to address the top priority sustainability issues identified by the evaluation.
- Establish and support a multi-stakeholder Destination Stewardship Council to oversee implementation of the projects and drive program goals.
- Monitor destination sustainability over time using key performance indicators and Sustainable Travel International’s Destination Monitoring System.