Royal Caribbean's private island in the Bahamas, CocoCay, was awarded the Sustainable Tourism Education Program (STEP) Gold-Level Eco-Certification for its attractions and tour operations.
The award was presented by Sustainable Travel International, a leading nonprofit that support sustainable tourism development. The certification is the top-tier program and is among the first global standards to be formally recognized by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), and CocoCay is the first operation of its kind to receive the certification.
All on-island tours and island operations, including workplace practices, guest communications, and environmental management policies were assessed by a third-party independent of Sustainable Travel International and Royal Caribbean. Royal Caribbean demonstrated an ability to successfully apply its outstanding on-board sustainability initiatives to its shore excursion operations.
Royal Caribbean met certain criteria to receive the award, among them were these distinctions
- Royal Caribbean performed extremely well on all policy and documentation criteria.
- The CocoCay team performed “above and beyond” in areas of guest communications, guest education, group-size policy and visitor code of conduct.
- All on-island vendors sell locally sourced and produced products from the Bahamas, such as artwork and locally-made crafts.
Royal Caribbean Associate Vice President for Safety and Environmental Stewardship, Rich Pruitt, commented on the award, "We are very proud of our CocoCay team and the incredible work they do every day. It is through their dedication to sustainability initiatives that CocoCay has been awarded this prestigious certification that further emphasizes our commitment to environmental stewardship. By working with organizations such as Sustainable Travel International, Royal Caribbean continues to focus on providing an incredible vacation experience both onboard its ships and its private destinations like CocoCay.”
