A MESSAGE FROM THE MINISTER OF TOURISM

RODOLFO ELIZONDO TORRES

TOWARD A TOURISM VISION BASED ON HUMAN AND SOCIAL VALUES

The Tourism for All Program seeks to increase the wellbeing of Mexicans through tourism, to bring people together by incorporating the new social realities within its aims and activities. The program intends to create more spaces for society?s participation in providing services, emphasizing and promoting their ability for self-management in a sustainable development framework.

The new tourism concept understands that collective interests must be renewed through the construction of spaces for relaxation and recreation, and which favor a complete experience for the individual and he group, in the understanding that access to tourism is a basic human demand; no-one should be excluded from it for reasons of sexual orientation, age, religion, health, disability or economic status.

In pursuing this aim, we must adopt the criteria contained in the Declaration of Montreal, which has sought to promote a different kind of tourism focused on a "human and social vision of tourism" since 1996. This document has effectively validated the concept of "tourism for all", incorporating it into the new spaces and horizons projected for the new millennium since 2000. It redefines "tourism for all" as a tool for building societies, a driver of economic growth, a player in urbanization and local development and the key partner in development programs.

As a builder of societies, the new perspectives of tourism for all must not be diluted in current tourism practices, but instead be focused on offering the possibility of living tourism as an authentic and global experience so that it can contribute to people?s personal growth and overall development. This makes tourism for all a promoter of social cohesion, insofar as it can create various development opportunities in local communities; a development that should not only be seen from an economic perspective, but a social and educational one too.

By contributing to economic growth, tourism for all brings continuous flows of people and investment that play an important role in developing regions and in the production of consumer goods. It also provides an incentive for various activities that bolster internal tourism, contributing to the improvement of hotel occupancy rates in hotels during low seasons and providing continuity for benefits enjoyed by communities over time.

In terms of urbanization of regions and local development, tourism for all stimulates visitor numbers to cultural areas, areas of natural beauty and sports activities that are organized in different parts of the country. This brings the visitor into close contact with the enjoyment provided by these tourism activities. The movement gives impetus to the construction of means of access, communication infrastructure, urban renovation and protection of archaeological and historical constructions.