New ISTO member: Holiday Centre IMSS Oaxtepec (Mexico).

ISTO celebrates the recent membership of IMSS Oaxtepec Resort to its international network of more than 160 partners around the world.

On 23 July, the official membership ceremony of the Holiday Centre IMSS Oaxtepec (Mexico) to the International Social Tourism Organization (ISTO) took place. This formal ceremony marked the incorporation of this new ISTO member and ISTO Americas was represented by Sergio Rodríguez Abitia, president, and Oscar León Trujillo, administrator. Welcomed by the ceremony's host, Jaime de Jesús Gómez Roch, general manager of the Holiday Center IMSS Oaxtepec, the following representatives also attended the ceremony: María del Rosario Pereira, Head of the Health Tourism Department, representing Mr. Miguel Torruco Marquez, Secretary of Federal Tourism, Abdiel Guerrero Rojas, for the Secretary of Tourism and Culture of the Government of the State of Morelos, César Torres González, municipal president of Yautepec Morelos, Víctor Castro Serrano, president of the Association of Water Parks and Spas of the State of Morelos (APABAM) and Eduardo García Jiménez, president of the Intermunicipal Council Pro Tourism Morelos A.C.

The ceremony took place in the framework of a breakfast-presentation that began with a cordial greeting and welcome by Braulio Avilés in the facilities of the Holiday Centre IMSS Oaxtepec. This was followed by a message and official conferral of the ISTO Membership Certificate by the ISTO President for the Americas, Sergio Rodríguez Abitia, who highlighted the "trajectory of the Holiday Centre IMSS Oaxtepec as an iconic space for social tourism in Mexico, while recognising the willingness to belong and rejoin the international movement of social tourism" and thanked "that the Holiday Centre IMSS Oaxtepec has resumed the relationship with ISTO that we had for many years in the past, and that tells us that there is a renewed willingness to give this type of tourism all the relevance and all the impetus it deserves".

From left to right: Oscar León Trujillo, ISTO Americas Administrator; Sergio Rodríguez Abitia, ISTO Americas President; Jaime de Jesús Gómez Roch, general manager of Holiday Center IMSS Oaxtepec; and Eduardo García Jiménez, president of the Intermunicipal Council Pro Tourism Morelos A.C.

The words of Jaime de Jesús Gómez Roch, general administrator of the Holiday Centre IMSS Oaxtepec followed, who pointed out that "to speak of social tourism is to think of an activity for all Mexicans as a right to health and recreation as a tourist activity is fundamental for this purpose, social tourism must be inclusive for all human beings who wish to carry out activities of healthy recreation [...]. ...] the Holiday Centre IMSS Oaxtepec has been transformed to be an inclusive destination, adopting the protocols of health and safety for our guests and visitors, as well as those who work in this wonderful complex, with a great history and the preference of families who have visited us for generations [...] thanks to ISTO for the recognition of the membership that we are granted on this day, actions like this magnify the name of Mexico in America and the world, we will continue working on all the actions that lead to the improvement of responsible social tourism".

The protocolary act ended with the formal application to ISTO, the three orders of government present, and other participants at the event for the Holiday Centre IMSS Oaxtepec to present its proposal to host the ISTO World Congress of Social Tourism 2022 or the Americas Social Tourism Meeting 2022.

President of ISTO Americas, Sergio Rodríguez Abitia, confers the ISTO membership certificate to the general manager of Holiday Center IMSS Oaxtepec, Jaime de Jesús Gómez Roch