Mayakoba doubles their efforts for the environment and sustainability

The tourist resort Mayakoba, backed by OHL on the Mexican Riviera Maya, has started up two significant projects as part of their programs for ecology and the environment. One is in collaboration with the Rainforest Alliance and the other, with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Keeping the environment and sustainability as fundamental features on offer in Mayakoba is one of their objectives, which along with their service and quality, adds to their commercial success.

With this action, Mayakoba is now at the forefront of the trend that makes the environment and sustainability key factors when is comes to choosing a tourist destination. Agustín Sarasola, general manager of the subsidiary OHL Developments, points out that, “Both initiatives are the foundations with which Mayakoba is able to offer something unique, along with the quality of their hotel brands in the luxury sector”

The project with the Rainforest Alliance has the greatest potential for Mayakoba. It entails the development and certification of sustainable tourism practices that follow the Global Sustainalbe Tourism Criteria (GSTC). OHL and the three hotels already operating in Mayakoba, Fairmont, Rosewood and Banyan Tree, will all take part in the initiative. The goal is for them to become the top tourism companies in Latin America applying the GSTC criteria.

The agreement requires a commitment to minimising any negative impact and optimising the hotels’ socio-cultural and economic management. Fulfillment of the criteria allows Mayakoba and its hotels to display the logo of the Rainforest Alliance’s sustainable tourism program and to be promoted through the prestigious international organisation.

The first step in this project was the initial verification of the implementation of the GSTC criteria. It came up that the three hotels are already at a global level of over 50% in fulfilling the criteria.

The project with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is the Tourism Initiative for a Low-Carbon Quintana Roo. Its objective is to reduce the CO2 produced by the hotels. It requires the investigation of methods for measuring CO2 emissions and implementing programs for these reductions in each hotel.

This initiative has begun in the context of the United Nations Climate Change Conference that’s being held in Cancun from 29 November to 10 December. Roughly one hundred hotels are taking part and there will be four parts, of which the first, held on 8 October, was a seminar on climate change and Tourism in Fairmont Mayakoba.