Rural promotion: ecotourism opportunities are broader than realized.

It is well known that tourism is Mexico's third most important source of revenue, and indications suggest it will maintain this important role in the nation's economy. At present, it represents a little over 9.4 percent of GDP in 2003, 10.7 percent of capital investment (US$14.7 billion dollars) and US$1.5 billion of direct investment, according to a presentation for Colombia University by Rodrigo Esponda ("Tourism as a National Strategy for Sustainable Development in Mexico: Prospective Role of Public Policies").

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Tourism is also one of the growth sectors of the global economy. World-wide, it is predicted to more than double from 2000 figures by 2020, when the World Tourism Organization calculates there will be 1.6 billion international travelers. There is every reason to suppose Mexico's tourism will participate in this growth.

However, with a billion-dollar industry--tourism revenues to Mexico were almost US$11 billion dollars in 2004--in a competitive international market, the challenge is both to maximize this growth by effective planning and to guide this growth in studied co-ordination with other sectors of the nation's economy.

Observations that tourism to Mexico is not growing at the rate of tourism to other Latin American countries should keep government tourism authorities on their toes. The global trend is for travelers to become more demanding, and for a growth in niche markets that deliver more than "traditional" tourism.

For a confluence of reasons, Mexico's Tourism Secretariat (Sectur) has tended to be slow to recognize and support these niches. They are likely to evolve and take shape anyway, but by arriving late on the scene, authorities lose the opportunity to capitalize on them, integrate them into policy and influence their development.

Economic Benefits

One of these niches is nature-oriented, or rural tourism. As Silicon Valley-based international development consultant John Shores says, "One of the fastest growing sectors of the tourism business is nature-oriented tourism. The travel industry has enlisted the support of environmental organizations and park agencies and is promoting nature travel as the hottest 'environmentally correct' activity available."

A recent discussion on rural ecotourism--available online (http://forum.planeta.com/viewforum.php?f=59)--brings to the fore some crucial issues linking tourism and rural development. These include the potential for this tourism niche to address the abandonment of the countryside, contribute to rural renewal, and even help to stem migration. Population and job retention in a country where one-third of the economically active population has already migrated, infrastructure improvement and support to vulnerable groups (such as women and indigenous communities) are weighty prospective benefits adding to the more toured attractions of nature conservation and preservation of culture.

Rural tourism--still another term is agritourism--is not necessarily ecotourism by definition, but its attractions are threefold, as a growing niche in a major industry, for its tendency to support conservation, and its crucial job as a development tool for rural communities. As an activity that brings investment to and encourages sustainable practices in rural areas, rural tourism would logically require joint planning and action from the environment (Semarnat), social development (Sedesol), agricultural (Sagarpa) and economy (SE) secretariats as well as Sectur.

Sectur does have a 2004 document called "Guia de Apoyos Federales para Proyectos de Ecoturismo" which lists supporters from the above secretariats as well as other related organizations, from the National Forest Agency (Conafor), National Commission for Protected Areas (Conanp) to various social development agencies and the Instituto Mexicano de la Juventud. However, NGOs such as the Mexican Conservation Learning Network have reported difficulties in accessing the report and when going to press there was no functional link through the official Sectur website.

Defining Concepts

The market, and gradually the tourism industry, is becoming more aware of the dangers of using ecotourism merely as an advertising tool, which then attracts unscrupulous business people who are either not interested in, or even averse to, the conservation angle.

Although it ought to be clear what rural ecotourism is--and why it is not just the same thing as rural tourism--this is not yet the case. The above-mentioned conference was held precisely because too often communities and policy makers confuse rural tourism with ecotourism.

"It may not sound like a big deal," said conference organizer Ron Mader in June, "but this leads to massive project failures in communities that do not have the luxury of being able to waste time or money."

However, the confusion here is not primarily a result of lack of principle and a rush to get on the ecotourism bandwagon to make a quick buck.

While ecotourism is only just beginning to figure on tourism university courses, rural tourism has been part of the picture for a long time, and has usually had a sustainable and community component. It is frequently understood as being tourism in which the traveler participates with local communities, while old-fashioned nature tourism is referred to by other terms, such as "campismo" (camping) and "senderismo" (nature paths), says Nasheli Inclan Perez, who graduated in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in Turismo from Toluca's UAEM.

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Nevertheless, if rural tourism is wrongly referred to as ecotourism when it does not fulfill the criteria, it leads to distrust among consumers and a debilitating lack of clarity in planning, which is likely to mean project failures and cynicism.

Being clear about goals and solid definitions are essential to attract investment, and ecotourism--despite government foot shuffling--is not a difficult concept to grasp.

Planeta.com suggests it should merely meet the following three criteria: 1) provide for environmental conservation; 2) include meaningful community participation; 3) be profitable and sustain itself.

As it happens, these echo the criteria set by one of the country's major foundations for rural development, Fomento Social Banamex, suggesting there is a need for criteria and definitions, and also that the already established criteria actually work.

Success Breeds Success

The rural ecotourism conference revealed that there are excellent students and researchers working in the field within Mexico's tourism sector, such as Rodrigo Esponda in the New York office of the Mexican Tourism Board (CPTM), but they can be hard to find (see http://tourismutopia.com). Luis Rendon from the board's London office also showed his commitment by participating in the conference's online chats.

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There are also examples of success stories, as well as large investments made, although it is not always easy to locate transparent information about this.

One of Mexico's first rural ecotourism initiatives to combine government, private initiative and organized civil society has come to fruition in the national park area around the volcanoes of Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. Three years in the making, the "senderos interpretativos" (educativa nature paths) have been up and running for nearly a year, supported by Grupo Modelo, Fomento Ecologico Banamex, and Grupo Bimbo as well as the NGO Pronatura and government agencies.

The rural ecotourism conference is also valuable for access to international success stories, experiments, trends and statistics, from farm tourism in the United States, to cloud forest preservation in Sta. Lucia.

Mader lists Mexico's best ecotourism success stories as Renacer de la Sierra (Monterrey); Eco Paraiso (Celestun); Canyon Travel (Copper Canyon) as distinct from the best rural tourism projects, in which he counts community museums and community lodges in Oaxaca.

For those unfamiliar with non-governmental organizations in the country and abroad, the documentation online also confirms an increased level of professionalism in NGOs, rigorous methodologies and financial planning.

Some of Shores' suggestions for consumers "What the Traveling Public Can Do" could serve as useful pointers for investors too. And there are many other valuable models and step-by-step approaches for assessing a community's or region's potential for rural ecotourism that would be helpful for business initiatives.

For further information on funding and industry awards, see the following links: www.planeta.com/ecotravel/Jinks/foundations.html and www.planeta.com/ecotravel/tour/awards.html.

Barbara Kastelein writes about travel in Mexico for The Herald, Travesias magazine, Fodor's Travel Publications and Brides magazine.

Story and photos by Barbara Kastelein

RELATED ARTICLE: New Ventures

This program (www.new-ventures.org.mx) was developed five years ago by the World Resources Institute (WRI) in Washington.

New Ventures works in six major areas, including sustainable tourism, sustainable agriculture, certified wood, and clean technologies.

It identifies ventures that will benefit society and the environment, and that are financially attractive. Then it assists the company--for example by contracting consultants to strengthen its business plan, or develop strategies for future training.

"We seek out companies--alliances with government, NGOs--by looking in tourism and agricultural fairs, for example. We help them get an investment strategy, so they constitute an 'offer' for the investor explained Diego Alcazar.

"We hold a forum for investors every year--last year it was held in November in Mexico City's W hotel--presenting attractive business opportunities for those who want to invest in projects that generate economic, social and environmental benefits."

Investors participate through the WRI (www.wri.org), especially those from the United States, which comprise about half of total investors, Alcazar, says. However, Europe is a growing region for investors, with new initiatives coming especially from Scandinavia and Holland, as well as England and Germany.

"European companies are aiming to put a part of their profits into these projects, but the first criteria is that they have to be profitable."

The tendency is for trust funds to be created specifically to invest in these types of enterprises, many of them managed by NGOs (such as Eco enterprises and Ecologic--www.ecologic.org), Alcazar said, adding that so far there are not many big funds of this nature in the United States. On the whole, industries that invest the most are the energy, chemical, and construction sectors.

"The market has opened for these goods, spurred by the Kyoto Protocol, and international law. There is now pressure on industries to buy a percentage of their energy from alternative sources, and this is especially developed in Europe."

Major banks, such as HSBC and Deutsche Bank, are playing a growing role, requiring sustainable practices before investing in a company. "Citigroup does this less, but also a little," Alcazar says.

HSBC, for example requires certification of wood by the Forest Stewardship Council (www.fscus.org), for both investing and buying, and there is work ahead on incentives for sustainable practices in the fishing industry.

"It is still far away--just starting in Latin America--but this has a big future."

Alcazar highlighted Triple Bottom Line Investment companies, based in the United States (www.tbli.org), whose next conference will be held in 2006 in Frankfurt.

"Each time more companies are buying products they know to be sustainable," he said, mentioning IKEA, Kraft and Starbucks (see www.environmentawards.net).

He emphasized the importance of efficient NGOs with a proven track record, citing Rainforest Alliance as a key player in this field (www.rainforest-alliance.org).

Other organizations to keep an eye on are Conservation International (www.conservation.org) and Germany's GTZ, which has offices in Mexico City (www.gtz.de/en).

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--Barbara Kastelein

RELATED ARTICLE: Fomento Social And Fomento Ecologico

These are two different foundations established by the Banco Nacional de Mexico, the largest bank in Mexico (acquired by Citigroup in 2001), and lead bank of the Banamex-Accival financial group. Fernando Peon-Escalante is director of them both, and Alfredo Harp Helu is president.

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Projects in rural areas tend to come under the purview of Fomento Social Banamex A.C., which been running for 11 years, principally developing organizations with scarce resources in the countryside, including projects for drinking water in indigenous communities, disaster relief and education, said Peon.

We are convinced that the fight against poverty and environmental conservation are the great challenges of the 21st century," he said.

Peon explained that Banamex's work in this field is as a business movement rather than philanthropy. While the foundations are non-profit, they do seek to recover their investment to show that the projects supported can survive.

"I do not approve projects that are not economically viable," he said. "We don't accept 'Cartas a Santa Claus.'"

Criteria to select projects are designed in house by Banamex's own technical council. It does not work with NGOs, Peon says, but directly with communities.

"We work with the social base. If the community wants the support of an NGO, for example, in training, on matters of water, on ecology, that's fine. But we never work the other way round," he said, "otherwise we could end up being an office for occupational therapy for NGOs, and we don't want that."

Likewise, the funds do not work with independent consulting agencies, but rather with professional areas within the bank.

"Every fideicomiso (trust fund) has a Technical Committee, which follows up on money spent and examines effectiveness."

While Banamex has many different trust funds, covering areas such as the restoration of 16th century convents, the organ of Mexico City's Metropolitan Cathedral, or the church of Santo Domingo in Oaxaca (where Harp now lives), the Social Foundation is distinguished by its "Estrategia de Microregiones."

Here, it works closely with Sedesol, the Education and the Transport secretariats to create models combining education with economic and community development. Basic infrastructure and job generation are its aims for the rural areas it concentrates on, such as Chiapas, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Puebla, Veracruz and Yucatan.

"We work with whomever," says Peon. "We require passion, professionalism and resources--these are the three essential components."

While it is not easy to find information on the Social Foundation through the Banamex website (www.banamex.com), which has no clear links to this work in rural areas, it can be found indirectly at: www.banamex.com/eng/filiales/fsb/index.html, with information updated through 2001.

Ecotourism, Peon says, comes under Fomento Cultural, which has been in existence for 35 years (www.banamex.com/esp/filiales/fomento_cultural), while Fomento Ecologico has been running for two years and Peon was unwilling to elaborate on specific projects at this early stage.

"We are still starting. This is still new, and we are not yet experts."

A web search however reveals information on this foundation (www.banamex.com/eng/filiales/feb) with a general report of activities in 2001.

Peon also mentioned Fondo Accion, a joint project of the InterAmerican Development Bank (www.iadb.org) and Banamex, which has been running for nearly a decade.

"It's the most important project in Latin America, spending about US4 million per economically viable project, such as organic coffee."

Here Banamex works with campesino organizations in Chiapas, Veracruz and Oaxaca, Peon said. Asked about working with Rainforest Alliance, Peon said he understood there was "some closeness, but there is not a link yet."

--Barbara Kastelein