Sustainable tourism is based on the premise of not compromising the resources of future generations; it seeks balance between the environment, culture and economy to strengthen people's quality of life.
Since the 90s, Nicaragua has begun to experiment with ecotourism; until recently, there was no clear vision that sustainable tourism goes beyond environmental resources.
For 2017, the Government of Reconciliation and National Unity, through the Strategy for Tourism Development, seeks to consolidate sustainable, ethical, humane, participatory, inclusive tourism development that respects our values, customs and traditions.
The strategy is based on the principles of good environmental, cultural and socioeconomic practices that contribute to the protection of Mother Earth and sustainable human development.
Tourism sustainability is a well-defined line of action for this year, focusing on strengthening tourism enterprises and SMEs, without neglecting the promotion of traditions that define us as Nicaraguans.
And this is where the regulatory body for the sector, the Nicaraguan Institute of Tourism, INTUR, comes into play, with the development of campaigns for waste management, workshops on good business practices, business meetings, exchanges of experiences, national congresses, roundtables and tourist signage.
Citing successful cases, Asociación Puesta del Sol on Ometepe Island, Rivas, is made up of and led by 17 families from the La Paloma community. It is a community-based rural tourism initiative that has been in operation for 11 years. Most of the families are dedicated to traditional agricultural activities; they currently offer tourist services and activities as an alternative means of economic and community development with a sustainable approach and environmental preservation.
The Concepción de María Reserve in Dolores, Carazo works on organic coffee production, agro-ecotourism, scientific research and environmental awareness for the conservation, protection, education and promotion of natural resources in a sustainable way.
As a member of the Association of Caribbean States, Nicaragua has been participating since 2015 with the Corn Island Destination in the third phase of the efforts being made at the regional level of the Caribbean to implement the Destination Evaluation process that allows the implementation of the indicators of the Sustainable Tourism Zone of the Greater Caribbean.
In this regard, work has been carried out on the pilot implementation of a virtual tool that allows progress in the validation of indicators that generate a diagnosis of the destination.
Ometepe Island is also participating as a Pilot Destination, promoted by the Alliance of Sustainable Destinations for the Americas, which seeks to improve the way in which tourism is managed and the competitiveness of 30 tourist destinations in Central America and the Caribbean this year.
In the destinations mentioned and in places such as Sábalos Longe (Río San Juan), Hacienda Santa Lastenia (Granada) and the Sueño de Meme hotel (León), training and quality strengthening have been developed with the Tourist Support Voucher program, all towards the same goal.
The fact that the World Tourism Organization declared 2017 as the Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development has allowed people and the State to focus their attention on the word sustainable, generating awareness about the use or exploitation of resources, conservation or rescue of traditions that attract visitors who generate income that improves the quality of life of families.
Our government's policy has contributed to this work on sustainable tourism; homogenization of messages, the media transmit a positive image of the country, selling a safe environment; the incentives provided by the public sector to the tourism sector are another strength, as well as the good promotion of the country in fairs, push campaigns in airlines and international agencies.
Although the work of the sector in the last 10 years has been incredible in terms of job and currency growth, care must be taken with the impact, since any development in construction that does not have sustainable strategies will have a short-term result.
The country has specific legislation that is still being worked on for its forceful application: Law 835, the Sustainable Rural Tourism Law.
The secret and the challenge will be to join forces to enjoy – through sustainable work – the benefits that are attractive to visitors.
Happy World Tourism Day!
