ICTP welcomes Baja.com as destination member to alliance

HALEIWA, Hawaii, USA & BRUSSELS, Belgium – The International Council of Tourism Partners (ICTP) announced that Baja.com has joined the organization, representing the Baja California peninsula, Mexico,

HALEIWA, Hawaii, USA & BRUSSELS, Belgium – The International Council of Tourism Partners (ICTP) announced that Baja.com has joined the organization, representing the Baja California peninsula, Mexico, including Baja (northern Baja) and Baja California Sur (southern Baja), by becoming a destination member of ICTP.

โ€œThis is an important new member for ICTP. Having just returned from WTTC’s [World Travel & Tourism Council] Mexico summit and witnessing first-hand the commitment to our sector of President Felipe Calderon and Tourism Secretary Gloria Guevara, I am convinced that this country will be a leader in driving home the green growth vision for our sector. Baja, of course, will be one of the jewels in the rich tourism offering of the country, and we will be working hard with them to spread the ICTP message of green growth and quality at a destination level,โ€ said ICTP President Geoffrey Lipman.

Baja, California, remains largely untouched by development, a wild and natural land mass (the Baja Peninsula is approximately 800 miles long) surrounded on one side by the Pacific Ocean and on the other side the Sea of Cortez/Gulf of California. The government of Mexico and state government of Baja, along with entities including Baja.com, have supported efforts to protect ecological resources (for example, the Grey Whale Sanctuary and El Vizcaino biosphere program). These efforts are vital not only to nurturing Bajaโ€™s growing eco-tourism industry, but to ensuring a better and safer Baja for its inhabitants and for its vigorous wildlife community.

ICTP Chairman Juergen T. Steinmetz said: โ€œWe are pleased to add Baja.com to the fast-growing roster of destination members of our alliance. Baja.com is committed to quality green growth, and ICTP is pleased to support their eco-tourism efforts.โ€

โ€œBaja California is in many ways an undiscovered paradise of ocean and lagoons, mountains and deserts, and pure clean air and beaches,โ€ said Jim Pickell, Baja.comโ€™s CEO. โ€œOur goal is to promote tourism to this amazing area, and yet do it in a green and sustainable way. We want the public to actually see in real time the growth of the gray whale population, the preservation of heritage sites like cave paintings done by ancient peoples, even the work that is being done to preserve mountain and desert trails.โ€

Pickell added, โ€œAs a member of ICTP, we believe that we can build upon what we are already doing to be global eco-partners. For Baja and for Baja.com, this is a truly meaningful alliance and will provide us with greater and stronger resources than ever to enrich and protect our environment.โ€

Mexico is the worldโ€™s 10th most visited travel destination, and Baja, California, attracts millions of tourists annually. Baja.com provides information on virtually all areas of this nearly 800-mile-long peninsula with focus on major areas including Tijuana, Rosarito, Ensenada, Tecate, Mexicali, San Felipe, San Quintin, Guerrero Negro, Mulege, Loreto, La Paz, Cabo San Lucas, San Jose del Cabo, and Todos Santos. Travel tips, deals, FAQs about Baja, itineraries, recreation, accommodation, and more are available at Baja.com. Baja.com is a comprehensive online source of first-hand travel information for Baja and unique and life changing tours, supported by a full-service travel agency staffed with local “Travel Savants.” To contact Baja.com, call 855-BAJA-411 or email [email protected].

ABOUT ICTP

The International Council of Tourism Partners (ICTP) is a new grassroots travel and tourism coalition of global destinations committed to quality service and green growth. The ICTP logo represents the strength in collaboration (the block) of many small communities (the lines) committed to sustainable oceans (blue) and land (green).

ICTP engages communities and their stakeholders to share quality and green opportunities including tools and resources, access to funding, education, and marketing support. ICTP advocates sustainable aviation growth, streamlined travel formalities, and fair coherent taxation.

ICTP supports the UN Millennium Development Goals, the UN World Tourism Organization’s Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, and a range of programs that underpin them. The ICTP alliance is represented in Haleiwa, Hawaii, USA; Brussels, Belgium; Bali, Indonesia; and Victoria, Seychelles. ICTP membership is available to qualified destinations free of charge. Academy membership features a prestigious and selected group of destinations.

Members of destinations currently include Anguilla; Aruba; Bangladesh; Canada; China; Croatia; Greece; Grenada; India; Indonesia; Iran; Iran; La Reunion (French Indian Ocean); Malaysia; Malawi; Mexico; Morocco; Nicaragua; Northern Mariana Islands, US Pacific Island Territory; Pakistan; Palestine; Rwanda; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; South Africa; Sri Lanka; Sultante of Oman; Tajikistan; Tanzania; Yemen; Zimbabwe; and from the US: Arizona, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Maine, Missouri, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.

Partner associations include: African Bureau of Conventions; African Chamber of Commerce Dallas/Fort Worth; Africa Travel Association; Alliance for training and research in the field of social and solidarity tourism (ISTO/OITS); Cultural and Environment Conservation Society; DC-Cam (Cambodia); Hawaii Tourism Association; International Institute for Peace Through Tourism (IIPT); International Organization of Electronic Tourism Industry (IOETI); Livingstone International University of Tourism Excellence, Zambia; Positive Impact Events, Manchester, UK; Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade, China; SKAL International; Society for Accessible Travel & Hospitality (SATH); Sustainable Travel International (STI); The Region Initiative, Pakistan; University of Florida: Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute; University of Hawaii; and vzw Reis-en Opleidingscentrum, Gent, Belgium; and University of Technology Mauritius.

For more information, go to: www.tourismpartners.org .

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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