Since the beginning of 2022, the tourism sector in Peru has embarked on a titanic task of recovering from the losses incurred during the pandemic. According to the National Superintendence of Migrations, in just the first two months of this year, 133,875 international tourists arrived in Peru.
After two years of confinement, there is a global demand for tourism; however, is the sector on the right path to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?
As recalled, on Saturday, January 22, an oil spill near the shores of the northern coast of Peru irreversibly damaged the marine ecosystem of our coasts. The company responsible for this tragedy, REPSOL, took time to speak out, doing so only when the pressure from international media and the damages became increasingly evident.
Images of oil suffocating and ending the lives of aquatic animals and coastal birds flooded social media, while only a few audiovisual and written media outlets covered the news. Economic losses in tourism are estimated to have reached around 200 million soles. But above all, the disaster further sank the fragile situation of dozens of fishing families, inhabitants of the coastal towns of Ventanilla, a vulnerable area, which today suffers from a catastrophe for which, so far, there is no way out.
The United Nations World Tourism Organization and other actors have called attention to the need for the tourism institutions to promote and adopt the SDGs, thus ensuring sustainability in the sector. As is known, those involved in the tourism industry constitute a key group of actors in contributing to solving environmental issues. So, is Latin America in a favorable scenario for joint work to ensure the promotion and fulfillment of the SDGs?
In this regard, what role do states play in guaranteeing systematic attention to improving the education and training of actors who ensure such sustainability?
We must not lose sight of the fact that the current political scenario in the country is not contributing to the work of ensuring responsible tourism and, in that path, the fulfillment of the SDGs. For example, nationwide strikes, little or no attention to environmental attacks such as oil spills on the coasts and in the Peruvian Amazon, social conflicts between indigenous leaders and leaders of agricultural guilds versus large companies in Peru, as well as eco-territorial struggles at the Latin American level, are examples of the little articulation that exists between the desires of citizens and the states of the region.
The 17 SDGs seek to contribute to mitigating the effects of climate change and achieving sustainable development. In the tourism sector, for example, the eradication of plastic is proposed, among other actions. Despite this, we face an absence of a normative framework that not only regulates or sanctions those responsible for environmental disasters such as the one described above, but also addresses the lack of promotion of corporate sustainability. That is, regulations and organizations that support companies, large, medium, and small, in transforming their business models.
Finally, education in sustainability must be considered a priority to achieve the SDGs, and therefore, promoters of tourism education must contribute to the promotion of policies focused on greater participation of different actors in sustainability and environmental education. Without this, we run the risk of not promoting transformations aimed at an economic impact that affects locally and globally, in sustainable development actions.
