Many, if not most, of you did not guess that so many LAC hotels are already GG21 certified or benchmarked, right? As mentioned in Part I, for the moment the Mexico-Caribbean nexus has more GG21 properties than any other region. That in itself is commendable. It's clear that many parties — notably Jamaica and the Sandals and Viva Wyndham hotel chains — are sold on the benefits of being GG21 certified.
That said, there are many curious gaps.
Let's start in the Caribbean Basin, where GG21 certification is doing well. Why, for example, are there no hotels entering the GG21 process in Cuba, St. Maartens, Trinidad, the Virgin Islands (British or US) or the Central American nations?
It has been suggested to me that in Central America this absence might be explained by competition from competiting eco-certification schemes, Ecotel, the Green Deal, Costa Rica's CST or STI's STEP (all of which I'll cover in future Temas blog entries).
I do not find that argument entirely persuasive. Ecotel, which was launched in the 1990s, has never gone beyond four Central American countries (Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras) and a couple of Mexican resorts in its LAC coverage, and some of the properties certified (such as Belize's Chaa Creek) are now seeking or considering GG21 certification. The Green Deal has, so far, been limited to Guatemala, although indications are that the Rainforest Alliance would like to see it or something like it be promoted elsewhere. STEP is too new — it may be a brake to GG21's hotel certification program in the coming years, but does not explain past GG21 acceptance or lack thereof.
