The president of the Association of Hotel and Tourism Companies (Emprhotur), Agustín Olachea, expressed his support for maintaining the right to free and open access to the beaches of Baja California Sur. However, he shared a change of vision that could benefit the care of these natural spaces.
The hotel leader shared that his vision is for the entire population to have access to well-maintained beaches, where the natural environment, which could include the dunes, flora, and fauna found in that ecosystem, is respected.
While being clear that free and guaranteed access is a constitutional right, he nevertheless believes that we must change our patterns of use and customs to better access the beaches.
Therefore, Emprhotur believes that this modification should primarily prevent heavy vehicles from affecting these fragile areas.
“First, what we saw during Holy Week, which is a recurring event every year, mountains of trash that we leave on the beaches, that can’t be right; second, we must have access to the beach, but we must have pedestrian access, not vehicle access,” he said.
As a contribution, he comments that the owners of properties adjacent to beaches should reach an understanding with the community and authorities to allow these pedestrian access points and create suitable parking areas in the back.
“This isn’t about changing regulations and such; I think it’s a process of good practices that we should follow in this state, and, eventually, we should all be aware that this is where we should aspire to have better beaches so that future generations can continue to enjoy them and have the capacity to do so,” he said.
“In addition to enjoyment, but also so that they continue to be an attraction for tourists who visit the state and, incidentally, are the main economic activity in Baja California Sur,” he added.
Agustín Olachea emphasized that there are some properties on the surrounding land that are susceptible to being used for tourism infrastructure, which adds to the highly competitive offering in Baja California Sur.
It is in this context that he insists that beaches should be enjoyed in many ways, not only for the public to access, but also for generating economic opportunities.
“I believe we can all coexist by making rational use of them and, in addition, by reaching an agreement among everyone: the community, the authorities, the surrounding properties, the tourism and real estate developers who are developing in these coastal areas of our state,” he concluded.
Source: zetatijuana
