Sustainable Tourism in Guatemala

Spa-Med-Holiday follows the principles of Sustainable Tourism, which aims at improving the QUALITY of life of everybody involved in tourism; Sustainable tourism is not synonym of “tourism growth,” instead it favors a win-win situation: it enhances the life experiences of the tourist and benefits the host people, while respecting their cultural identity and their natural environment.

Our Wellness Program includes ecotourism and the use of renewable resources and natural therapies. We also prefer to contract small family businesses and individual proprietors rather than large corporations, as it is the case for our hotel accommodations for instance.

Our efforts go beyond the mere ecotourism activities: wherever possible we reach out to artisans local communities and NGO's to contribute to the fair distribution of the tourism benefits.

Being a guest of Spa-Med-Holiday, how are you contributing to the quality of life of several MAYA communities?

The natural aromatic oils used for massages or in the thermal tubs at Amatitlan Day-Spa are produced by Maya communities living in remote areas in the Departments of Quiche and Alta Verapaz. More than 100 families are involved in small scale organic farming with the production and extraction processes of plants and aromatic herbs.

This social project was initiated 15 years ago by a Guatemalan NGO, Funcedescri. Up till then, those Maya communities - who for the most part don't speak Spanish but a Maya language - were barely surviving on their small isolated plots of land, merely cultivating corn and beans, and totally cut off from all commercial circuits. Since then, they have been able to count on more steady revenues to improve their overall living conditions.

Their finished products are commercialized by the NGO Funcedescri under the label of CHIKACH and are sold at very affordable prices so that locals can purchase them.

Aromatic Oils, Organic Farming & Fair Trade

The CHIKACH products ar a typical example of Sustainable Tourism: they generate triple benefits: to the consumer (for their quality and organic properties), for our planet earth ( no use of pesticides or chemicals) and also for the indigenous communities who produce them : by incorporating them into a sustainable pattern of growth.

Funcedescri oversees the production and extraction processes and is involved in the continuous training and counseling of the local workers. No pesticides nor chemicals are used for the production, nor during the extraction processes. CHIKACH's essential oils are not obtained through the use of chemical dissolvents, unlike the manufacturing processes of big-name cosmetic companies.

Biological farming applied to the production of aromatic plants is quite labor intensive, but at the same time it guarantees a careful selection of the aromatic plants being used, as well as quality control during extraction and distillation.

The distillation and bottling processes have received certification by the Guatemalan Health Ministry. A laboratory in Germany periodically analyzes the quality and chemical components of the essential oils.

Learn more about the WTO's (World Tourism Organization) criteria for Sustainable Tourism (*). According to the WTO the concept of sustainable tourism should be based on the following criteria:

• the maximal use of natural resources and the conservation of the natural heritage and bio-diversity of the host country,
• respect of the socio- cultural authenticity of the host communities and conservation of their built and living cultural heritage, and
• distribution of it`s socio-economic benefits to all stake holders; it should contribute to poverty alleviation.

(*) Charter for Sustainable Tourism jointly subscribed by the World Tourism Organization, the Unesco and the EU in 1995 in Lanzarote, Spain.

Photos provided by NGO Funcedescri.