Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco – Mexico now has 108 locations that can fly the Blue Flag environmental designation, putting the country in first place on the American continent and among the top 10 in the world for the most beaches, marinas and boats that qualified for the 2023-2024 season.
When presiding over the Second Meeting of the National Blue Flag Jury, Secretary of Tourism, Miguel Torruco Marqués, reported that 73 beaches, 6 of which are in Puerto Vallarta; 2 marinas and 33 sustainable tourism vessels will display the Blue Flag Distinctive during the 2023-2024 season, according to the decision made by the Foundation for Environmental Education’s (FEE) international jury of environmentalists.
He pointed out that the agency under his charge, in coordination with the FEE, has driven and promoted programs whose purpose is to create awareness among tourists and residents about the importance of ecosystems.
One of them is Green Key, focused on the sustainability of the lodging industry. Another is the Blue Flag, a distinction created in 1985 which is awarded to beaches and marinas for their excellence in environmental management, security, services and water quality, as well as to environmentally responsible tourist boats.
He emphasized that these actions contribute to attracting more tourists to Mexico, and increases the amount of foreign currency coming into the country, which is how the tourist potential of a nation is measured.
“Given the natural environment’s relevance, we must continue working on its preservation, care and protection, as indicated in the 2019-2024 National Development Plan. The Government of Mexico, led by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, is committed to the sustainability as an indispensable factor of well-being, under ethical, social, environmental and economic principles, which, applied in the present, allow us to aspire to a habitable and harmonious future,” he said.
“My appreciation to all those involved in the conservation of beaches and marinas for implementing better sustainable schemes and practices. Collaboration between tourism service providers, authorities, civil society organizations and the population as a whole is the key to facing the challenges imposed by constantly changing tourism, so remember that they will be the nations that best preserve their environment and preserve its historical, cultural and gastronomic identity, those that participate in the extraordinary economic benefit of tourism in the future,” concluded the head of Sectur.
For his part, Joaquín Arturo Díaz Ríos, executive director of FEE México, announced that the Blue Flag International Jury met on April 19, 2023, in order to review and approve the Blue Flag candidacies for 2023; and ruled that 108 sites were eligible and therefore likely to hold the Blue Flag Distinctive for the 2023-2024 season.
He congratulated the national operators for having met the criteria in a timely manner; as well as for the delivery of quality documentation, which allowed a successful international evaluation to be carried out.
Díaz Ríos reiterated the importance of the Blue Flag as a tool that adds value to one of the most relevant productive activities in the country and that it is an important basis for internal competitiveness in the international tourism environment and, above all, that promotes the environmentally responsible use of beaches and marinas, as well as the responsible operation of vessels in Mexico.
