Visitor Management Systems for sustainable tourism in nature destinations 

Nature tourism is growing year after year and has positioned itself as a trend in the sector, which means that more and more visitors are looking for experiences in natural areas.

Balandra beaches are one of the most visited nature destinations in Baja California Sur, facing great challenges for the management of tourism, triggering the following question: Is it possible to innovate in its visitor management system so that tourists enjoy their experience and learn from it, respect the carrying capacity, strengthen its financial sustainability, guarantee access to local visitors and finally conserve this natural protected area that benefits the destination?

On June 15, in the city of La Paz, Baja California Sur, the Experience sharing: visitor management systems for sustainable tourism in nature destinations in which successful cases from Mexico and Latin America participated.

Bonito, Brazil - Marietas Islands - Whale Shark What can Balandra learn?

In the international arena, the successful case of Bonito, Brazil, with its model of unique boucher At the national level, we were accompanied by the Isla Marietas National Park team, who are proud of the admirable collaboration between CONANP and Bahía Unida (association of local tour operators) to implement the "double bracelet", as well as at the local level we have the experience of the Whale Shark Committee led by local tourism service providers from La Paz. 

All the cases have common elements: cooperation, thriving businesses, limits to tourism growth, market-based financing, sound governance, public-private partnerships, learning from mistakes, and of course, years and years of perseverance, agreements and commitments. 

Each destination shared its story and results. 

Bruno Wendling took us back to the 90's when, as a destination, the decision was made to define a single system for the destination so that both visitors and external travel agencies could make reservations, first on paper and now digital, in order to respect carrying capacities, keep local tourism service providers united, generate strategic information to make decisions and finally that each visitor contributes economically to reinvest in the sustainability of the destination. 30 years later, they are a worldwide reference and the first carbon neutral destination in Latin America. 

During the participation of the case of Islas Marietas Isaí Pelayo, Yurí Damián Herrera and Ramón Joya Rodriguez from Bahía Unida A.C, a civil association formed by tourism service providers in Islas Marietas NP, as well as Jorge Castrejon and Areli Cueto from CONANP, emphasized the importance of communication between tour operators and authorities, establishing "gentlemen's agreements", words they used to express the commitment and trust that the sector must have in order to implement a systemic change for the good of its main working resource: nature. 

At the end, the attendees were asked: "What was your greatest learning experience? And we received some very inspiring answers, some of which were "There is interest in the community to do things better", "The example of organization in Marieta Islands with a larger number of lenders and from different locations" and "A responsible authority is needed, as well as a change of mentality and paradigm". 

What can Balandra learn from these experiences? Is it possible to innovate in its visitor management system? Thanks to the participation of relevant actors in the operation and management of Balandra, this relevant conversation is detonated at a very strategic moment for the destination. 
We thank all the attendees who are building solutions for sustainable tourism in Balandra, and why not? to share in the future as inspiration for other natural protected areas in Mexico. We are especially grateful for the tremendous support received from the Pronatura Noroeste team, the management and park rangers of APFF Balandra, Turismo La Paz, members of the APFF Balandra Advisory Council and Niparajá A.C. without their help, this process would not have been possible. If you are interested in learning more about the event and the results obtained, do not hesitate to contact us at info@lamanodelmono.org.