P.R. Laws tit. 23, § 6318
The Executive Director shall create and attach to this Company, the Office for Sustainable Tourism in Puerto Rico, with the purpose of planning the various tourism practices and modalities in a sustainable manner, in order to satisfy the needs of the types of tourists of present and future generations. This Office represents the operational arm of the Act to plan and promote Sustainable Tourism programs and projects on the Island and to prevent natural areas with high ecological, cultural and historical value from being managed or operated by private sectors and agencies whose objectives contravene the definition of “sustainable tourism”.
The Executive Director shall appoint the Office Director, who shall be a professional in tourism or planning, natural sciences, environmental sciences, or social sciences, with knowledge of environmental management or planning, project and program management and implementation, administration, tourism or ecotourism promotion and marketing, and technical and practical knowledge of activities relative to sustainable tourism.
The Office shall have the participation of agencies whose programmatic commitment enhances economic development, cultural programs, the conservation of natural resources, self-management and cooperative activities, the experience of tourists, tourism, education and recreation, in addition to the entities comprised within the Interagency Commission and the Advisory Council to be created under § 6319 of this title.
The duties and functions of the Office for the Development of Sustainable Tourism in Puerto Rico shall be the following:
(a) To produce the Master Plan for the Development of Sustainable Tourism in Puerto Rico and to submit the same to the Planning Board for its approval during the next twelve (12) months following the date of approval of this act. This Plan shall consider the following plans and documents: the LUP, Agenda 21, the Long-Term Transportation Plan, the Integrated Water Management Plan, and the Puerto Rico Coastal Zone Management Program, among others. Likewise, the Office shall study the viability of creating a trust attached to the Company to develop and provide incentives for sustainable tourism projects.
(b) To oversee, in coordination with the Department, compliance with the responsibilities and duties assigned and necessary for enforcement of this subchapter.
(c) To promote sustainable development principles, together with the Department and the Planning Board, by establishing standards for planning and developing tourism projects.
(d) To enable the broadest participation of all sectors in Puerto Rico that are stakeholders in the development of sustainable tourism in Puerto Rico, including the Government, local communities, the private sector, professional associations, environmental organizations, educational institutions, and other groups of interest.
(e) To act as an agent which facilitates initiatives, programs and projects that foster sustainable tourism via its diverse modalities.
(f) To establish strategic alliances and liaisons with specialized local and international organizations which allow for the frame of reference to be broadened and for sustainable tourism to grow and become competitive.
(g) To promote collaboration in order to improve environmental education and to exert influence over the behavior of communities, [especially] of community organizations and tourist service providers, such as: tour operators, tour guides, and purveyors, among others.
(h) To analyze and recommend actions to address infrastructure and facility needs as required by the development of sustainable tourism in Puerto Rico for the enjoyment of our natural resources by visitors.
(i) To establish the classification standards and criteria required to certify, in a uniform and standardized manner, projects for sustainable tourism in its diverse modalities, such as: green structures, ecotourism, agrotourism, and hostelries, among others, which shall be incorporated into the Master Plan. Projects shall be evaluated by considering their economic impact, the redistribution of income into the community, the conservation of natural resources, the culture, and the fostering of educational activities.
(j) To identify sources and resources for the funding of sustainable tourism projects, operations and activities, seeing that most of the economic benefits derived from the development of these projects be destined for activities to conserve and manage the corresponding natural areas and to promote the economic and social development of the communities involved. To stimulate and enable support to be extended as to matters of a technical, interpretive, or financial nature or concerning the development of human resources in microbusinesses and small and medium-sized businesses organized under the self-management model, such as special employee-owned corporations, cooperative associations, and nonprofit organizations, among others.
(k) To identify the natural and environmental resources with the greatest potential for ecotourism in Puerto Rico, so as to foster their fullest employment based on the sustainable development concept, while maintaining the conservation of said resources as a priority over any other activity.
(l) To foster the participation of the private sector and the municipalities as key agents in the implementation of the plan to develop sustainable tourism.
(m) To recommend an appropriate budget which contemplates funding for the Office.
(n) To recommend strategies for the promotion and marketing of sustainable tourism modalities in Puerto Rico and abroad and for the development of environmental education activities relative to ecological tourism. To support the application of international principles, directives and codes of ethics for sustainable tourism, such as those proposed by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Sustainable Development Commission, and the International Labor Organization (ILO). To require the analysis of factors, such as: the limit of acceptable change, socioeconomic and environmental impacts of a project, capability for managing the natural and environmental resource under discussion, in any proposal submitted concerning the development of sustainable tourism projects in Puerto Rico.
(o) To coordinate with the pertinent agencies for the extension of technical and financial support to microbusinesses organized under the self-management model, such as, for example, special employee-owned corporations or community cooperative associations, among others.
(p) To recommend to the Planning Board, if necessary, new districts to reserve tracts of land best suited for sustainable tourism. Likewise, it shall suggest changes or recommend modifications of the existing districts, so that these conform to the need for the development of sustainable tourism on the Island.
(q) To promote and support those educational and technical training activities necessary for the various components of sustainable tourism, ecotourism and agrotourism, among others.
(r) To study the viability of granting incentives to proposing entities to foster the development of sustainable tourism and ecotourism projects.
(s) To urge municipalities to incorporate the development of sustainable tourism into their Land Ordinance Plans, in coordination with the Office created under this subchapter.
(t) To use as a model internationally approved and revised directives on the institution of certification systems, ecolabels, and other voluntary initiatives aimed at maintaining the sustainability of ecotourism, while encouraging the private sector to incorporate these systems and promoting consumer awareness.
(u) To coordinate and collaborate in the institution of community training programs which build entrepreneurial capacity and foster self-management in sustainable projects.
(v) To encourage and support the creation of municipal and regional cooperation activities and networks for the promotion and marketing of ecotourist products, both national and international.
(w) To submit to the Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and to the Legislature of Puerto Rico, the recommendations needed to establish and implement the public policy of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to promote the development of sustainable tourism.
History —Nov. 30, 2006, No. 254, § 7.