How strategic design can support social entrepreneurs to develop sustainable tourism in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico and empower local Mayan indigenous communities.

This study is of importance as tourism is a viable tool for economic development and social change in developing countries. The UN has named 2017 the International Year of Sustainable Tourism and we have aligned our project with the following UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Mexico

Although the tourism industry represents an economic growth for Mexico, sustainable practices that celebrate culture and heritage have not been fully integrated in the region.  

For example, in 2014 only 120,000 visitors went to  “the Mayan zone” in comparison to the 8 million who visited the Cancun-Tulum touristic corridor.

Mayan Indigenous Communities

Indigenous people in Mexico face many social inequalities and live in extreme poverty. 80.6% of them subsist with with less than $2 USD a day. This is a result of high rates of illiteracy, lack of proper schooling, and the lack of sufficient resources.

In the Yucatan Peninsula, indigenous communities are highly marginalized due to several factors:

• Lack of job opportunities.
• Seen as sources of cheap labor in touristic destinations
• They are forced to migrate from their communities to the touristic corridor in search for job opportunities
• Not included in the development of tourism projects, which is highly disempowering

Social Entrepreneurs

Social entrepreneurs face many obstacles to develop sustainable projects such as:

• Lack of collaboration and engagement practices with indigenous communities 
• No clear frameworks and methodologies that support them in the development of their projects.

OPPORTUNITY

Tourism Social Entrepreneurship can diminish the effects caused by mass-tourism and present sustainable growth opportunities.

With a bottom-up approach, indigenous communities can participate in the local economy by supplying social, natural, and cultural resources for the creation of authentic tourism experiences. At the same time, social entrepreneurs can empower the Mayan communities by improving their standard of living and aspirations.

New Sustainable Tourism Model

Field Research Video

Our solution is a roadmap for sustainable tourism development with indigenous communities. The end user will be social entrepreneurs, and it functions as a facilitating tool with a grassroots approach that includes and empowers indigenous communities throughout the whole tourism development process. 

The roadmap is composed of six phases: the first three focus on defining the scope, building relationships, and establishing trust with the communities. The last three phases focus on project implementation and evaluation. Each phase has guided steps and specific tools to collaborate with local communities.

To ensure that local communities have a robust and equal voice in the planning and decision-making process, we performed research on how to build trust and establish relationships with them.

We integrated the findings and existing methodologies such as stakeholder engagement, inclusive tourism planning, and participatory action research in the design of the roadmap. With these principles communities are consulted, engaged and empowered to influence decisions on tourism development and operations that may affect their livelihood.