UNESCO wants to give families dedicated to community tourism in Yucatán leadership in the sector in Southeast Mexico.
To learn more about the Melipona Bee “ the sacred Mayan bee ”, learn to cook typical Yucatan food, and tour the state without spending a fortune, UNESCO Mexico is developing a project that links Airbnb with groups and communities dedicated to tourism in the Mexican southeast.
Through it, the organization seeks to reconnect and promote tourism in Yucatán. Hand in hand with groups and families that have been dedicated to community tourism for decades. And with its guided tours, UNESCO promotes “ reconciliatory tourism ” in the region where large companies such as Airbnb and various groups also collaborate.
Carlos Tejada, coordinator of the Culture sector at UNESCO Mexico, explained that this form of tourism seeks to recover the identity and voice of the communities. Who should be the first to take into account:
“It is about strengthening the tours and tours part. Which in the world of tourism have come to be called tourist experiences. And what is precisely sought is tourism that can be a different response to mass tourism. Where unbridled consumption is the only thing that is privileged. It is a tourism that seeks to be respectful of its environment, secondly, respectful of the people in the environment. But above all, it should be tourism that is managed by the communities themselves.”
So far 56 organizations have asked to get involved in the project that already covers 28 municipalities and 35 localities in Yucatán .
Yucatecan communities as leaders of state tourism
Through three key points, UNESCO seeks to ensure that the families and communities themselves that are dedicated to community tourism are the ones that obtain the greatest benefit to promote:
- Cultural heritage.
- Community organization based on reconciliatory tourism with families.
- Promotion and development of sustainable tourism products through the internet and socio-digital networks.
For this initiative, UNESCO Mexico is not alone and works together with the government and the private sector such as the Secretariat for Tourism Promotion ( Sefotur ) of Yucatán, the Union of Tourism Cooperatives of Yucatán ( Co’ox Mayab ), and including the Airbnb platform .
People interested in obtaining more information about the experiences and tours that will be added in Yucatán can consult the website: [email protected]
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