Robert F. Kennedy junior urged the tourism sector in the Caribbean to do more to incorporate the community and preserve the environment. Kennedy, a laywer for the Council for the Defense of Natural Resources, spoke up against those that have favored tourism development at the expense of the environment, and what he deemed the most important resource of the industry – the community. Kennedy spoke during the Caribbean Hotel Industry Conference held in Miami He advocated that good environmental policy is good business policy, good economic policy and good policy for the posterity in his talk. He challenged Caribbean hoteliers to come to terms with the short and long term impact of sound environmental policies and procedures within a commercial context.
As reported in El Caribe, he said that the tourists do not visit the Caribbean only to enjoy the natural setting and the landscape. He said they also do so for the cultural experience of meeting and interacting with the people. He spoke up against the privatization of natural resources and highlighted that to isolate the communities and the people from enjoying the resources they have known for years creates resentments that in the long term will backfire.