Port of Spain, Trinidad. March 21, 2025. The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), through its Regional Tourism and Health Program (THP), continues to collaborate with Sandals Resorts International (SRI), to build capacity to promote healthier, safer tourism to protect the health and well-being of both visitor and local populations in the Caribbean.
This training was conducted by Mr. Keston Daniel, Coordinator, Visitor-Based Surveillance and Dr. Sastee Kissoondan, Technical Officer of CARPHA. Significantly, a grand total of four hundred and forty-eight (448) persons from eighteen (18) SRI resorts across the Caribbean region participated in CARPHA’s virtual “Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases for the Hospitality Sector” training on February 19, 2025. Participants were from accommodation, food and beverages and housekeeping departments.
Dr Lisa Indar, Executive Director, CARPHA remarked, “This training provided SRI with the essential knowledge, capacity and practical examples of prevention and control measures of infectious diseases in the hospitality sector. With the completion of this training, all resorts under the SRI group would achieve the Healthier Safer Tourism (HST) award. This remarkable achievement elevates SRI as the only group with all of its resorts awarded the regional HST award for implementing proactive health measures in tourism”.
Mr. Gavin Palmer, Corporate Manager, Environment, Health & Safety, SRI, shared, “Sandals is very grateful to partner with CARPHA and this training will allow Sandals resorts to be branded as a Healthier, Safer Tourism facility through CARPHA which we look forward to”.
SRI has been partnering with CARPHA’s THP since 2019. To date, all twenty (20) of its resorts are registered in the confidential health monitoring Tourism and Health Information System (THiS), 1300 employees were trained in Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases for the Hospitality Sector and twelve (12) resorts having received the Healthier Safer Tourism (HST) Award. This 15-year partnership is crucial in promoting a Caribbean sustainable and resilient tourism product, particularly given the current global and regional landscape of infectious diseases. Public and private partnerships, real-time, electronic surveillance and a coordinated public health response for the tourism sector, are integral to safeguarding health and safety of both locals and visitors to the Caribbean.
About CARPHA-THP
CARPHA’s THP is a novel programme which adopts a multi-faceted, multisectoral approach of real time confidential surveillance, response, guidelines, capacity building, standards, policy, advocacy and partnerships, and healthier safer tourism award, for improving the resilience of the tourism industry and by extension, the health of local and visitor populations. The HST is measurable and verifiable recognition for the tourism sector for implementing proactive health measures. Learn more via our website - https://carpha.org/THP/Background
About Sandals Resorts International (SRI)
Since 1981, SRI has been leading the Caribbean all-inclusive industry by offering guests more amenities, more luxury, more innovations, and more choices than any other beach resort. The properties are located on some of the most sought-after stretches of sand in the world, including Jamaica, the Bahamas, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Grenada, Barbados, Antigua, Curaçao, and Turks & Caicos. From the most romantic couples-only getaways to fun-filled vacations for the whole family, our family of all-inclusive resorts share the same vision – an unwavering commitment to excellence and a promise to exceed expectations. https://www.sandals.com/about/
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