Challenges and Lessons Learned in Nature Tourism Businesses
The Monkey's Hand
September 27th of the current year was held on World Tourism Day from the Local Hands Network with the purpose of raising awareness and sharing experiences from the communities who are part of this initiative created by the organization The Hand of the Hand.
At the celebration, more than 60 people and from a constructivist perspective, awareness was raised to understand the social, cultural, political and economic value and to allow a better impact on the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals through tourism.
The topic was about the Challenges and Lessons Learned in Nature Tourism Businesses. It was moderated by Alejo Heymo, Operations and innovation coordinator at La Mano del Mono and as guests, experiences were shared such as those of Héctor Mariano Olguín of the company YOO`NASHI, Edy Ruth Garcia of the collective Community Ecological Tourism Capulálpam Mágico and Hector Cruz and Cristina of Huatulco Salvaje.
The opening of the event allowed us to ask the question: What does human capital represent for your enterprise? Thanks to an interactive dynamic, it was possible to understand the importance of community work for the implementation of sustainable tourism: "The human capital allows us to share and recognize others from their acquired experience, which has allowed us to apply different perspectives or views. This makes us be in a constant evolution or strengthening, allows us to strive in the use of natural resources for the bio-construction of our cabins" exclaimed Hector Mariano Olguin of the company YOO`NASHI.
On the other hand, Edy Ruth Garcia of the collective Capulálpam Mágico Community Ecotourism is a community governed under the system of use and customs. Its highest authority is the communal assembly; this allows greater citizen participation in the work they do to strengthen the welfare of their territory. One of the main challenges that Edy faces as a representative of her organization is to encourage the participation of women and equal conditions, opening scenarios of opportunity in society through tourism:
"Participation is important because if we are organized as a community, we can take care of our environment, especially in times when our municipality is threatened by mining and where tourism works as a mechanism to defend it." Said Edy
Decent employment was another of the issues discussed in this space of the Local Hands Network. Hector Cruz y Cristina of Huatulco SalvajeThey shared with us their experience in marketing their sustainable tourism products, where they seek to promote decent employment, guarantee labor rights, extend social protection and encourage social dialogue. Four pillars of the ILO's Decent Work Agenda ILO.
Cristina, Héctor Cruz's partner, strives for social inclusion and greater female participation in their tourism processes. For them, it is important to empower the communities, generate greater roots for the care of the territory and also recognize the important role that women play in the preservation of culture and natural resources.
"Conventional tourism is important to fight it and this is achieved through community empowerment. We think that inclusion allows for the improvement of territorial capacities and above all helps in the well-being of the communities." Héctor commented
We would like to thank the people who accompany us and are part of the Manos Locales Network. From La Mano del Mono, we seek to contribute to generate spaces for dialogue, participation and visibility of experiences that leave positive impacts. Together we can achieve better practices for the care of our natural environments through tourism.
