Co'ox Mayab

Co'ox Mayab, meaning "let´s go to the Mayab" in Mayan language, is a union of social enterprises committed to the promotion of a sustainable, responsible, solidary, fair and conscious tourism in Yucatan. Through the promotion, commercialization and training of initiatives dedicated to alternative community-based tourism in the Mayan region, we aim for: Responsible tourism that considers good tourist practices that reduce the negative impact it generates. Asolidary encounter that opens the approach between social reality and coexistence, promoting an intercultural interchange. Fair trade where public and private institutions, as well as local organizations participate, to assure an even distribution of the benefits generated by tourism. Aconscientious form of travel as an experience that contributes to personal growth through contact between visitors, locals and biocultural heritage. What is a social enterprise? A social enterprise is an enterprise related to the economy that parts from a collective vision of resource management, decision making, work, profit sharing and solidarity with local development, while it keeps a cooperation relationship with the public and private sectors, taking advantage of the economic benefits for investment, training and promotion of the initiatives. Similarly, social enterprises promote control and domain of the means of production and mainly the control of land, the generation of self-employment and self-management enterprise improvement, in order to increase the quality of life of the members and the community where it is established. What is alternative community-based tourism? This type of tourism is conformed by two main components: (1) alternative because it includes activities focused on the valuation and conservation of nature and local culture, maximizing the economic benefit for the local people and minimizing the negative impact on the environment. These activities are commonly carried out in areas away from mass tourism. (2) Community-based because it is practiced in rural contexts under collective organization models, whose ultimate objective is to improve the living conditions of local societies and its consequent empowering that promotes a conscient change that tends to a better control, self-esteem and decision-making power of these groups. This way, through alternative community-based tourism experiences it is possible to admire and discover the regional flora and fauna diversity with the immersion into natural areas for activities like birdwatching, trekking or camping, as well as learning about the local culture, in this case the Mayan culture of the past and present, visiting archeological zones, museums, colonial cities and towns, participating in workshops and tours that help get to know the lifestyle of the rural areas and contributing to the sustainability of community-based enterprises that have opted for tourism as a way of self-employment that contributes to the community´s development while sharing and preserving nature and the local culture.