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Supporting Sustainable Tourism in Mexico

In 2008 Tourism Concern, in conjunction with Mexican NGO Sectur and the UK’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), undertook a pilot project to promote better understanding of the social, cultural and economic impacts of tourism amongst community-based tourism enterprises in Mexico. The project was undertaken in partnership with the Puerta Verde Ecotourism Network in Quintana Roo and RECT in Tuxtlas, Veracruz.

The aim was to ensure that local communities nurture and protect their social, cultural and economic resources while benefiting from sustainable tourism. Cultural and social cohesion are critical if communities are to achieve this. The initial phase of the project involved training Mexican co-researchers in participative research techniques, followed by a pilot needs analysis. Over thirty interviews were conducted with women, men and children in six villages in the state of Quintana Roo. Interviews were held both with people working in tourism and other members of the communities to ascertain levels of understanding of the social and cultural impacts of tourism.

Tourism Concern used the research results to produce a training manual. This has been used to train a group of trainers to go out and work with communities. While analyzing the various issues, participants explored ways to evaluate current practices against relevant ‘benchmark’ standards. Guidance on how to raise current standards and minimize negative socio-cultural impacts of tourism has also been developed. Issues addressed included:
• land rights
• gender
• carrying capacity
• social cohesion
• positive interaction with tourists
• tourism in a mixed economy
• interpretation of identity, language and culture
• equitable relations with tour operators and marketing.

Further research was conducted to evaluate the programme’s effectiveness in bringing about positive change. The process can now be replicated by the Mexican Government across the country. In addition, the manual can be used by other communities wishing to improve their sociocultural sustainability in tourism.