Sustainable, equitable and enriching for all: this will be the tourism of the future

Cerca de Puerto Morelos (Quintana Roo, México), al final de una carretera de tierra y rodeado de chicozapotes y de ceibas, un árbol sagrado en la cultura maya, está el lugar que Alejandra Treviño eligió, hace siete años, para construir una réplica de la cocina de su abuela donde poder compartir los sabores auténticos de su tierra: “Me entristecía pensar que mucha de la gente que viene a esta zona [a apenas 40 minutos de Cancún] se pierde la oportunidad de conocer el México real. Van a resorts, hoteles y restaurantes muy bonitos, pero al final no conocen nuestras tradiciones ni celebraciones”, explica la chef, de ascendencia libanesa. Allí, junto a Paula Falcón, una cocinera indígena, y el resto de su equipo, ofrece verdaderas experiencias culinarias a los turistas, a los que agasaja con un delicioso y especiado café de la olla y enseña a cocinar el menú que disfrutarán juntos más tarde (hoy tocan carnitas, ensalada de nopalitos, chiles rellenos y tamales dulces). A ellos también les confiará, por ejemplo, que el buen tequila no necesita sal, y que se degusta poco a poco, no de golpe.

Mexico cooking is one of the 165 companies in the North American country that have benefited from the two recent tourism recovery programs of the Tui Care and Enpact Foundation, and which, together with those of Egypt, South Africa, Kenya and Tunisia will have promoted565 companies from December 2020 to February 2022.“Participating in the program was very useful, not only for financial aid (9.000 euros), which allowed us to pay our employees, but for mentoring, which helped us find better ideas and processes [placed solar panels, biodigesters, discarded the use of paper and increased the efficiency of the compost and its organic garden].We settled in Yucatan, we improve the web and our presence in the networks....I had no management in management, it was just a chef with a dream and lacked all those tools, ”says Treviño.

Initiatives such as yours intend to promote a sustainable entrepreneurship model that originates a positive impact on local communities, in a still volatile context in which the consequences of the pandemic on world tourism remain patent: from January to July 2021, there were80 % less international tourist travelers than in the same period of 2019, according to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), and only Mexico closed 2020 with a 46 % drop in international tourism and 20 million tourists less than in theprevious exercise.

The crisis, however, has served to further accentuate the need to move towards a tourism model that minimizes its carbon footprint and that is also pushed by the climatic emergency, in line with the sustainable development objectives (SDGs) pointed outFor the UN."More than increasing sustainability, its growth must be rethink and better and better tourism planning that we want for the future," says Lluís Garay, a doctor in economics and professor of the University Master in Sustainable Tourism and ICT of the University Obertafrom Catalonia (UOC).“The tendency to shorter circuit tour.Some even speak of regenerative tourism, in which the tourist would leave an improved destination with respect to the one that has been found, ”he adds.

Beyond mass tourism

That the impact of tourism can be positive they know very well in Camaleón Consultoría, a social impact company located in the Yucatan Peninsula that has also benefited from the Tui Care and Enpact initiative.Like the rest of the companies, the program provided three months of virtual training, a specialized mentor.Many of its activities use education as a transformation engine thanks to sustainable tourism: “Last year, we had an event with 200 people and another 100 volunteers, and we totally transformed a school that educates 1.000 children from a vulnerable area of Playa del Carmen: murals, paint, a new playground, we plant fruit trees...14 projects developed simultaneously ”, recalls.

In addition to advising companies in the adoption of sustainable practices, in Camaleón they work with various vulnerable groups, identifying and covering some of their needs.It is through this type of tourism, for example, that they can help Oceanus repopulate the Mesoamerican coral barrier, planting up to 10.000 new corals every year;or to the Aitana Foundation, a group of support for children with cancer and their families that provide medicines, transport, psychological support and even refuge for children who cannot be in their homes, for having the very committed immune system.“We have different environmental, social themes...But all related to social responsibility and sustainability, which implies much more than philanthropy: it has to cover the economy, society and the environment.If you do not cover these three axes, it is difficult for a project to be sustainable in time ".

What is sustainable tourism like?

The fight against the effects of climate change and the green transition that the different economies have been promoting, with the SDGs, the 2030 Agenda and the (few) commitments torn from the various summits by the climate, are testimony of the importance of the importance oftoday gives environmental protection.From energy efficiency to the management of resources and waste, sustainability strategies cover all productive sectors, and tourism is no exception.Now, what exactly is sustainable tourism, and what should we do to travel according to those principles?

“In general, there is a bias to be interpreted as sustainable practices only those that have to do with the environmental perspective, when social and particularly work (still very precarious conditions in many activities, improvements in conciliation, etc.) should be central to central inThese considerations, ”says Garay."Without forgetting, by the way, economic sustainability, without which, however interesting and transforming the proposals, they end up not lasting for not being viable".This is, therefore, a work that affects everyone in one way or another: governments, sector and consumer companies.

In general, this type of tourism must contribute to the development not only economic (buying local crafts and using local services), but also social and cultural of the communities that are visited, respecting their natural, gastronomic and historical heritage (essential are, inMexico, visits to the Mayan ruins of Cobá, which you can visit on foot or by bike, tulum and chichen Itza, or enjoy the cenotes, for example).The sustainable traveler is reported before the trip;He is interested in local traditions;He practices tolerance, respect and empathy;It facilitates the conservation of biodiversity and contributes to improving the well -being of people such as María Dominga CenWaist: he learned from his mother and grandmother since he was only 15, and today weaves all kinds of bags made of henequén fiber (from the agave family).Or Candy López, owner of Dive Mike, a diving company located in Playa del Carmen that manages with her husband and eldest son: “We teach people to dive and show them the wonders of the Caribbean, including the caves, the reefof coral and even a group of Tiburón Toro females, so that they learn that they are not the evil animals that Hollywood shows us ”.The support program made them more resilient, and mentors helped them improve their communicative strategies.

The future sustainability of tourism depends, to a large extent, on the action of companies, which can encourage this alternative ecotourism model.This is the case, for example, by Emiliano Iturriaga, a Mexican engineer who, in 2017 and even at the University, founded Routopia: "We saw that there is a lack of access to the market, in addition to the marketing and professionalization of services".Today they have more than 400 suppliers (many of them, cooperatives in rural environments) to those that incorporate in “broader chains, so that we can articulate personalized trips of five or seven days for travelers who seek authentic experiences”, explains: QatarMezcal, visit a Mixteca community, to know the pulque ritual (a traditional drink);dine with a cooperative of indigenous women;Visit a waterfall in the forest...

It is, in short, of adopting sustainable practices and processes, and even certifying them with stamps such as Biosphere, a recognition granted by the Institute of Responsible Tourism (ITR), an independent body created in 1995 with the sponsorship of UNESCO, the WTO, the United Nations Program for the Environment and the EU.A brand that recognizes, "through its different stamps, the competitiveness of the tourism sector by measuring its contribution to the 17 SDGs, the World Charter of Sustainable Tourism +20 and the guidelines of the Paris Climate Summit," saysRoberto Álvarez, his delegate in Andalusia.The certification, points, improves the positioning of companies in online travel agencies, having their sustainable practices recognized;increases its visibility;gives access to specialized promotion;Improve commercial results and give access to software for the sustainable management of the company itself.

Is it necessary to train in sustainable tourism?

"Sustainable tourism training is fundamental, since we are talking about how to transform a sector that, for decades, is the main creator of wealth and employment in our country," says Garay."And although it has improved significantly in recent years, in many cases we are talking about orientations still excessively linked to purely commercial interests" that, on many occasions, "respond more to business Greenwashing orientations than to work sustainability in a demanding way".To achieve greater professionalization of the sector, he adds, the training must play an even more important role than the one in the past.

How should good training in sustainable tourism be?The climatic crisis and the visible impacts of tourism activity are the most recognizable aspects, but - RECLECAMA GARAY - the social axis must also be taken into account, since “we talk about an activity that, in countries like ours, has grown and prosperedThanks to job precariousness ”.Therefore, "social measures must gain much more prominence in the future".And highlights the relevant role that, in his opinion, must have ICT: “Technology and sustainability should be considered jointly in most approaches that want to be made for the future.If ICTs have greatly promoted the spectacular growth of the activity in the prepazed decade, they should also star in the potential transition to more just models ”, with tools that help improve both governance and sustainable management of organizations,and are able to manage and interpret a lot of data.

The available training is very varied, and it goes from free courses that offer Moocs platforms such as EDX or Miríadax and the one offered by learning to low costs such as that offered by the Higher Institute of the Environment or Postgraduate Programs as the aforementionedMaster of the UOC or the Master in Sustainable Management and Planning of Tourist Destinations of Educa.“In terms of sustainability, Spanish organizations have advanced, although still very little;But there is no abysmal difference with other economies that also depend on this sector.There is much to go, ”recalls Garay."Perhaps the countries of northern Europe are the ones that have advanced the most in this regard, but it would be difficult to compare them with our case, since they are countries with less weight of the activity and some different tourist typologies than those predominate in the most tourist countries".

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