Two Belizean organizations have been accepted to participate in the International National Geographic Geo Tourism Challenge 2009.
“Ecotourism, according to the National Geographic Society, refers to tourism that sustains or enhances the graphical characteristics of a place. This includes its environment, culture aesthetics, culture, heritage and the well being of its residents. Geo-tourism incorporates the concept of sustainable tourism in the sense that destinations should remain un-spoilt for future generations, while allowing for enhancement that protects the characteristics of the place. And this is exactly what John Brown wants to make out of undeveloped Marcus Gonzales Mayan Sight located on South Ambergris Caye and Chris Crowell wants to make out of Cotton Tree Lodge located in the San Felipe Village in the Toledo District. While Brown wants to transfer the undeveloped Marcus Gonzales Site into a visitor’s center on the island the project needs as much financial assistance as possible to get off the ground. For this reason Brown had entered the Marcus Gonzales Site into the National Geographic Geo-tourism Challenge 2009. On the other hand Crowell wants to show the world that Cotton Tree Lodge offers volunteerism opportunity to Sustainable Harvest International a non-profit organization which teaches Belizean farmers sustainable agriculture techniques. An important part of the entry is input from the general public, the more visits and comments posted the more opportunities the site has to be considered. After a group of panelists review the entries and commence on July 15 the list will be narrowed down to about 10 to 15. Voting will then commence voting on August 12 and there is a grand prize of US$5,000 for the top three winners which are expected to be used to implement their project. There are 111 entries from 81 countries; two of those entries are from Belize. There is more than just the Geo-tourism challenge, if a project falls within Latin America and the Caribbean it may qualify for co-financing opportunities offered by Multilateral Investment Funds. MIF has an agreement with National Geographic aiming to promote and sustain Geographic geo-tourism. They will select and co-finance 20 projects from Latin America and the Caribbean and the winners can get between US$300 to US$500 thousand. To visit and leave comments for the Belizean organizations that have been entered you can visit their website at www.changemakers.com.”
The Geo-tourism Challenge 2009 is being celebrated under theme, Power of Places sustaining the future of destinations.
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