A few minutes after the end of the Sustainability and Investment Summit that the WTTC held in Puerto Rico, we spoke with the organization's senior vice president, Virginia Messina.

"This summit is really covering all the issues, I mean, when we talk about sustainability and investment, we really talk about the links between the two, but sustainability really from this completely holistic context," he explains.

Featured topics included "climate change, of course, the environment, natural resources, biodiversity and the oceans. And lastly the social part, we really had conversations to cover all of these topics."

"I think that what we wanted to demonstrate with this Summit is that today investors are looking for sustainability standards. Investments must be encouraged much more when there are high sustainability standards. Therefore, all destinations and countries need to raise these sustainability standards. in order to attract more investment.

Virginia Messina stressed that "it is a fact that regulation is increasing, so every time companies have to report on sustainability issues, including all the aspects that I have already mentioned." And he continues: "They do it at different levels. Today we see that in some regions there is a much higher level of awareness than in other parts, that is, in Europe of course these issues are fundamental, such as the green agenda. Even European countries and markets They have very ambitious goals.

"Generate renewable electricity for all its transportation with key dates such as 2030. So we see that there are certain regions that are advancing more rapidly and where that awareness exists more."

"Here where we are, in the Caribbean, it is obviously a region that is somehow more vulnerable. Last year in Glasgow at cop26, it was really said that if we do not pay attention to what the Paris agreement tells us, many of these territories can disappear in years".

"It's not tourism that's in question, it's really the future of humanity and I think that level of awareness is indeed rising but obviously there's a lot more that can be done."

The summit had the participation of prominent personalities who spoke at the meeting, such as Alexandra Cousteau, the granddaughter of the famous Jacques Cousteau. "As you say, we have had the participation of many personalities and I think that conversations like this are extremely important. There is a lot that remains to be done but there has definitely been progress. What is needed is action and that is where we really have to focus " , expresses Virginia Messina.
 

The future of tourism

"We had the Manila Summit, which was actually going to be the year before, and of course, due to the pandemic, it was not possible.
So right now we are adjusting the calendar a bit. The Saudi Arabia Summit will once again be our global Summit, where all the personalities representing the public-private sector really come, including from other sectors, and what we want to address there is really what the future of tourism looks like."

"With so many changes that have emerged from this pandemic, we are truly entering a new era. We are rethinking the models in which we operate, we are rethinking our business and we are advancing technology and increasing awareness of sustainability," he concluded by saying in the interview with ABC WORLDWIDE.

The photos of this note were taken with a moto g41