January 2017, Madrid, Spain – Sustainable Mexico, an initiative by GSTC Members Secretary of State of Guanajuato and Sustainable Riviera Maya, was officially launched.
Through a public-private partnership by two GSTC members – recently joined ‘the State of Guanajuato’ and GSTC Destination Criteria early adopter ‘Sustainable Riviera Maya’ – the Sustainable Mexico Initiative was officially launched. The Initiative is aiming to position Mexico as a leading country using sustainable integral management of tourism as a driver of development, innovation and inclusion and preserving natural and cultural treasures.
The initative was officially launched during the the International Tourism Fair – FITUR – held in Madrid, Spain, to raise awareness and promote sustainable tourism as an engine of development and innovation, generator of wealth and orchestrator of peace. Thus preserving the natural, cultural and social treasures, though sustainable tourism, and contributing to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
This announcement was received with great approval as an initiative that will strengthen actions for Sustainability in Mexico in the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, declared by the United Nations.
This includes all sectors of the value chain, primary and secondary, which are: Tourism, Innovation, Environment and Biodiversity, Economic Development, Social and Cultural Development, Innovative Urban Development, Hospitality, Transport and Aviation, IT’s, Original Communities, Manufacturing and Agro-food.
Guanajuato, a member of the GSTC, and current a recent winner of the UNWTO2017 Awards for Excellence and Tourism Innovation in the category «Public Policies and Governance», has committed to sustainability and developed the Sustainability Model Tourism.
Sustainable Riviera Maya (RM) is a civil society organization and a GSTC member, that has set a course in favor of sustainability with a working model towards the consolidation of concrete actions in the destination, betting on the early adoption of the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria. And from the Council for Sustainability RM, it has initiated the certification process as a destination with EarthCheck, a bodycertified by the Global Council of Sustainable Tourism – GSTC.
As a fundamental premise, the platform focuses on key concepts: sustainability as a value added tobrands, tourism as a potential promoter of solutions based on nature -NBS’s- through the renaturalizationof cities seeking the best quality Of human life and biodiversity; Local identity and thesafeguarding of cultural and social heritage as an asset in tourism; The person, as the core center ofsustainability; Having as an internal motor the pride of belonging; Where natural capital is also a greatasset to tourism, integrating biocultural landscapes as a commitment to conservation in harmony andsustainable tourism experiences as a motor of development and opportunity for equitable distributionof wealth.
The ‘SUSTAINABLE MEXICO’ route map will be the detection, research, education and permanent linkwith the International Traveling Sustainable Tourism Congress, as well as a meeting of experts in thethree regions of the country (center, south and north) to generate proposals.
Meanwhile, the lines of action are: detection of needs, education and applied research, linkage, projectfinancing, annual meetings, regional working groups, communication and valuation.
With this, the following goals will be pursued: promotion of good practices of sustainability andcontinuous improvement in tourism and all its cross-sectors, detection of regional needs and innovationopportunities, plans for solution and development and reproduction of leadership models.
As well as access to economic and financial benefits, access to better markets in tourism, adding valuesto the brands – for good practices and the enhancement of sustainability achievements in Mexico.
