UNESCO and SECTUR Launch Landmark Initiative to Boost Community-Based Tourism in Mexico

The agreement, formalized during the 2025 edition of the Tianguis Turístico de México—Mexico’s premier tourism trade fair—was signed in Playas de Rosarito, Baja California, on April 30, 2025.

In a major step toward reshaping Mexico’s tourism industry into a more inclusive, sustainable, and culturally enriched sector, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Secretariat of Tourism of the Mexican Government (SECTUR) have joined forces to launch a transformative partnership. This initiative aims to consolidate a cultural and community-based tourism model across seven Mexican states, with a strong emphasis on local empowerment, sustainable development, and heritage preservation.

The agreement, formalized during the 2025 edition of the Tianguis Turístico de México—Mexico’s premier tourism trade fair—was signed in Playas de Rosarito, Baja California, on April 30, 2025. It represents a groundbreaking collaboration between federal authorities, local governments, and international organizations. Present at the signing ceremony were Mexico’s Secretary of Tourism, Josefina Rodríguez Zamora; Undersecretary of Tourism, Sebastián Ramírez Mendoza; UNESCO’s Representative in Mexico, Andrés Morales; Governor of Morelos, Margarita González Saravia; and officials from the participating states.

Participating States and National Scope

The project will be implemented in Baja California Sur, Hidalgo, Michoacán, Morelos, Nayarit, Oaxaca, and Puebla. These states were selected based on their rich cultural heritage, environmental diversity, and the potential to establish replicable and scalable tourism models that benefit local communities.

A key deliverable of this collaboration is the development of the first National Guide to Community Tourism, which will document successful and inspiring practices from each of these territories. The guide will serve as a practical tool for local communities, tourism professionals, and public policymakers, promoting models that are both effective and adaptable to different cultural and geographic contexts.

A Tourism Model by and for Communities

The partnership follows UNESCO’s proven methodology on cultural and community-based tourism, which hinges on participatory processes and local engagement. This approach recognizes that sustainable tourism cannot flourish without the active involvement of the communities that host it. The process begins with recognizing local identities and cultural landscapes, followed by capacity-building efforts, product development, promotion strategies, evaluation metrics, and public policy advocacy.

Speaking at the event, Andrés Morales of UNESCO emphasized, “The community-based focus recognizes that tourism cannot keep growing at the cost of local communities, but rather with them and by them—so that the benefits remain local, the rhythms and ways of life are respected, and that through tourism activities, environmental and cultural sustainability are guaranteed.”

This holistic vision aims to reverse the traditional top-down tourism model where economic benefits are often concentrated among a few stakeholders, leaving host communities marginalized. Instead, the new model envisions inclusive tourism ecosystems that provide fair income distribution, decent work, environmental stewardship, and the preservation of both tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

Empowerment, Equity, and Sustainability

The program explicitly seeks to align with broader sustainable development goals, including gender equality, responsible consumption and production, economic growth, and social cohesion. It is also envisioned as a tool for social transformation, with the potential to foster peace and mutual understanding by enhancing community pride and intercultural dialogue.

UNESCO will support the project through a multidimensional lens, offering expertise in territorial income analysis, employment evaluation, and sustainable resource use. The aim is to build resilient communities where tourism not only contributes to the local GDP but also supports the well-being and identity of its residents.

Long-Term Vision

Ultimately, the partnership between UNESCO and SECTUR is not just a tourism development strategy—it is a cultural renaissance and social equity initiative. It aspires to redefine how tourism is practiced in Mexico and potentially serve as a global model for inclusive, culturally rich, and environmentally responsible tourism development.

As this initiative takes root, communities across the seven participating states stand to become not only stewards of their cultural and natural legacies but also active architects of their own sustainable futures.