If you don’t know me by now, you may not know why I hold the country of Jamaica dear to my heart. Whether you choose to believe it or not (yes, most disagree) my grandparents were born in Jamaica and that is where many wonderful family memories of mine have been made throughout the years.

Photo Credit: Tony Borrach

The first time I ever visited Jamaica I jumped on board the all-inclusive resort package and used the package deal as a great way to enjoy the Caribbean and head south for a family reunion. The second time I visited Jamaica I was on a cruise ship in which I expected to enjoy, but was thoroughly unimpressed (check out the blog I wrote on How to Avoid Choosing the Wrong Cruise Line).

The Caribbean is one of the most popular places for tourists across the world to visit while on summer vacation and/or spring break. Cruise lines in particular take the cake of having 50% of their destinations in the Caribbean. Though it is a wonderful industry and I’m doing what I do today because tourism is my passion, it is also one of the biggest ways that a local culture is destroyed.

Photo Credit: Tan Yilmaz

This is where I want to introduce you to a company I recently came across called The Center for Responsible Travel (CREST). CREST will be creating a documentary in order to promote coastal tourism to the Caribbean while still maintaining a sustainable travel plan.

One of the wonderful examples the team over at CREST gives us in the Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort,

Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort uses renewable energy, recycles and reduces waste, and is made with a low impact design. The efficiency of this hotel contributes to Aruba Prime Minister Mike Eman’s clean energy policy, which aims to make the country carbon neutral by 2020. The island is dotted with windmills and solar panels as Aruba charts a course to become the world’s first sustainable country. – CREST

It is their hope that by creating a documentary like this it will help create tourism literacy and help the citizens of the world understand what sustainable tourism really is and how to prevent damaging local cultures.

So this is where they reached out to me and asked for help. I am more than happy to share this on my own blog as I truly believe that the Caribbean is one region which would benefit greatly from sustainable tourism.

CREST is currently running an Indiegogo campaign up until March 31, 2015 to raise funds for the creation of this documentary.

Whether you think you may be able to support financially, create some buzz on social media or know of someone else who may be interested, please visit this link below and help support in any way possible:

Innovating the Caribbean | Indigogo Campaign