Emphasize the importance of making tourism more inclusive and in line with Agenda 2030

The idea is to opt for “a much more inclusive model of tourism that includes communities”, which contemplates complementary activities that are alternatives to the traditional model of sun and beach.

The UN representative in the Dominican Republic, Mauricio Ramírez Villegas, advocated for the development of a more inclusive tourism that involves the most vulnerable communities and allows progress in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

With this objective, and “responding to their needs and their development strategy, we have formulated a new cooperation framework for a five-year cycle that starts from this year 2023 until 2027,” Ramirez said in statements to the press in the framework of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) event held in Punta Cana (east).

This program constitutes a support to carry out “a much more inclusive, resilient and sustainable development in an island country, highly vulnerable to climate change and with fragilities from the environmental point of view”, he said.

The idea is to support “a much more inclusive tourism model that includes the communities” and includes complementary activities that are alternatives to the traditional model of sun and beach, taking advantage of the country’s natural, cultural and ecological wealth.

“Mountain tourism, adventure tourism, ecotourism. There are many alternatives, but it should be much more inclusive” than in its current conception of “a tourism still very concentrated in a wealth, let’s say not inclusive” because “there are many opportunities to include the most vulnerable people in the country,” he said.

Ramírez is one of those attending the thematic session “New Narratives in Tourism” following the 118th meeting of the UNWTO Executive Council, which brought together some twenty ministers from the sector with a focus on sustainability and the tourism of the future.