World Heritage Alliance 2008 Annual Meeting

Once a year, the members of the World Heritage Alliance for Sustainable Tourism gather to celebrate their success stories, to learn from their common challenges, and to share collaborative ideas for the coming year. This year, it was inspiring to hear about the many things that World Heritage Alliance members are doing to preserve and protect World Heritage.

During the Annual Meeting, we saw how WHA members go beyond their everyday business practices to help change the way people think about tourism and its impact on local communities in and around World Heritage sites. In Dominica, for example, Jungle Bay Resort’s employees are building the House of Hope, a community operated facility for local children with severe disabilities.  In Florida, Mandarin Oriental Miami is developing a Green Team to implement sustainable business operations and is connecting directly with the Everglades’ site manager on conservation projects.  And in Puebla, Mexico, our dedicated group of six hotels and local governmental agencies are working together on a cohesive sustainable tourism strategy.

To learn more about how you can make an impact, visit Friends of World Heritage www.friendsofworldheritage.org.

View the new Friends of World Heritage video below

Participants may download panel presentations and materials here.  If you are having trouble logging in, please contact worldheritagealliance@unfoundation.org.