"Walk through Samaná and leave only your footprints"
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Sustainable Samaná
Sustainable tourism circuit
Full of natural and cultural resources, Samana deserves to be taken care of. It is for this reason that the companies of the SUSTAINABLE TOURISM CIRCUIT promote the elimination and reduction of single-use plastic, water saving and the proper management of solid waste. But they also seek the protection and regeneration of ecosystems. It is not an easy task, but it is a task that we must all join, those who live here and those who visit us!.
In 2017, GIZ decided to start a pilot plan to make Las Galeras the first certified tourist destination in the Dominican Republic. To this end, it invited the German tourism certifier TOURCERT to initiate the
process. The first step was the creation of a Sustainable Tourism Council of las Galeras (CONTUGAL). Many lessons learned emerged from this process, the first being to follow due process in defining local leadership. It must be clear and open, so that a climate of trust can be articulated.
The Las Galeras destination managed to be certified with four conditions that it had to meet, including a
Tourism Territorial Planning Plan, a Tourism Development Strategy, following a clear process for the
formation of a democratically elected board, and finally a continuous improvement plan. Although it
was not possible to maintain the certification at that time, because it could not meet the conditions, not
everything was negative, eleven companies decided to be certified under the TOURCERT seal and
several more, already at the provincial level, decided to join. This is how TOURCERT's expansion in the
territory began and the TRANSTUR project was born, supported by TOURCERT, KATE (both German) and
IDDI, as a local counterpart.
The TRANSTUR Project proposes the production chain of certified companies, but the growing interest
leads to open up the range of opportunities. This chain is what inspires the idea of the SUSTAINABLE
TOURISM CIRCUIT OF SAMANÁ, as an opportunity for the exchange of experiences between companies,
a business opportunity, training and to promote sustainability actions at the peninsular level.
The TRANSTUR Project also decides to support the Samaná Environmental Forum, as a provincial entity,
representative of multiple sectors and whose objective is to promote sustainable development in
Samaná. The FAS will assume the management and governance of the CIRCUIT and will be at the same
time a tool to promote the economic development, sustainability and competitiveness of the tourist
destination.
The TRANSTUR project was valid from 2020 to 2022, and its continuity is assumed through the
DESTINATION OF THE FUTURE-SAMANÁ Project in force from 2022 to 2023. This new project, also
supported by KATE, TOURCERT and IDDI, has the same objectives, but expanded, so that the FAS
receives an advanced product to give continuity, called SAMANÁ SUSTAINABLE TOURISM CIRCUIT.
