Feb. 15, 2005

IITS Receives Grant to Plan Program for Honduras

The School of Business’ International Institute of Tourism Studies (IITS) received a grant from Tourism Cares for Tomorrow to develop a volunteer pilot program on Honduras’ north coast, Bay Islands, and eastern Honduras, home to the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve, a designated World Heritage Site. The initiative will support the Honduran government’s commitment to geotourism.

“Tourism can lead to economic development, but inadvertently it also can lead to environmental degradation,” says Donald Hawkins, GW’s Eisenhower Professor of Tourism Policy. “As greater numbers of people travel, the world needs a sustainable tourism strategy. This grant from Tourism Cares for Tomorrow will help us to organize a pilot geotourism project for Honduras.”

Hawkins says the grant will be used to mobilize support from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, National Geographic Society, Counterpart International, RARE Center for Tropical Conservation, Citizen Development Corps, and the Honduras Institute of Tourism to engage local communities and volunteers in the creation of a “Geotourism Map Guide.”

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