ECLAC presents five pillars for sustainable tourism with a territorial focus

(July 23, 2024) Although in Mexico and in Latin America and the Caribbean, Tourism is a sector that represents high rates of foreign direct investment, employment and economic spillover, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has detected challenges in the sustainability of the sector in the economic, environmental, social, cultural and governance fields.

In 2023, Mexico stood out as the country in the region with the most visitors, with a total of 42 million tourists out of the 76 million who visited Latin America and the Caribbean. Of the 118 billion dollars that came in total, Mexico received 30.68 billion dollars, 26% of the total.

The Head of the Agricultural Development and Climate Change Unit at ECLAC’s Subregional Headquarters in Mexico, Leda Peralta, said that it is estimated that tourism contributes to 10% of employment in Latin America and 35% in the Caribbean. Despite its importance in employment, around 52% of employed people are in informal conditions. Women occupy around 58% of the positions in accommodation and food, while young people up to 24 years of age occupy 21%.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted some of the persistent challenges facing tourism, such as the high concentration of economic activity in some communities and countries in the tourism sector, the limited approach to the seasonality that characterizes it, the precariousness and feminization of jobs and, in general, the low resilience to the impacts of disasters, climate change and other social, political and economic shocks. In addition, the pandemic has created new challenges that could affect the competitiveness and sustainability of the sector, such as the widening of the digital divide between developing countries (destinations) and developed countries (tourists), between population groups (women, older adults, indigenous or Afro-descendant communities) and between territories (urban, peri-urban and rural areas).

Peralta explained that in order to promote sustainable tourism as a pillar for a transformative recovery of the countries, proposals were drawn up contained in the study Tourism sustainability from a territorial perspective: studies in Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic to measure the sustainability of tourism in Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic from a territorial approach of tourist destinations or poles.

“This paper presents proposals for the analysis of tourism sustainability from a territorial perspective and the results obtained from 12 tourist destinations. The document serves as a guide for the analysis of tourist destinations and the opportunities and challenges they face for their sustainability,” he said.

The UN official added that, despite its economic dynamism, tourism’s contribution to the development of countries, especially local development, has been mixed. Although it contributes to exports, is a source of investment and employment, and has a high participation of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), the development model followed in Latin America and the Caribbean faces multiple pitfalls in its productive structure, in inclusiveness, in environmental balance, and in the institutional capacities to address these challenges.

rmation:

Tourism sustainability from a territorial perspective in 12 infographics