Hello friends of ISTO!
My name is Erica Schenkel. Greetings from Argentina. It is a pleasure for me to participate in this first week of social tourism. Without a doubt we are going through a critical moment, a humanitarian crisis with serious economic consequences for our societies, which affects all sectors, and particularly tourism.
This crisis also allowed and required us to reflect on our daily practices. And particularly about the tourism model that has been driving the development of the activity for a long time, with serious economic, social and environmental consequences. And it is within this framework that an opportunity is presented to all of us who defend and are committed to the principles of social tourism. An opportunity to position social tourism as an
alternative model and a possible model.
We have to take advantage of this framework to go in search of tourism practices that are more environmentally responsible, but also more equitable in social terms. In search of a tourism that also takes care of the enjoyment of the free time of the neglected sectors, which are burdened with long working hours, insufficient income and scarce recreational possibilities at their disposal. Which is concerned with the generation of fair income for destination communities, with local enclaves, for the generation of quality employment, which is not unequal in terms of race, gender, class or migrant status.
And without a doubt, think about a transformative tourism, which shapes and raises awareness about this need to build a new tourism ethic. Social tourism must be at the centre of these discussions. And I hope that this week will have us dedicated to dealing with each of these problems.
