Riviera Maya Forum Pushes Caribbean Mexico Toward Regenerative Tourism

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — The need to overhaul hospitality models so they protect local ecosystems and improve the well-being of surrounding communities took center stage at the Forbes Xcaret forum “Green Economy and Sustainable Development,” held Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Xcaret park in the Riviera Maya.

The gathering brought together business leaders, academics and specialists to debate the future of the tourism industry, with speakers arguing that environmental responsibility now sits at the heart of the region’s growth.

Science-Based Certifications and the 70 Percent Rule

David Simmons, president of the EarthCheck Research Institute and the event’s opening speaker, made the case for science-based certifications to measure environmental performance. He noted that operational and architectural design determines as much as 70 percent of a property’s ecological footprint, making efficiency in water, energy and waste management essential.

Simmons also pointed to shifts in luxury travel, where visitors increasingly seek authentic experiences and cultural connections rather than material consumption. That trend, he said, is pushing companies to build local supply chains and adopt management models that fit their surroundings, and he called for moving beyond traditional sustainability toward a regenerative approach to travel.

“For years, sustainability asked us to reduce our impacts. Today a more ambitious question emerges: How can destinations restore, strengthen and return value to the territories they depend on?” asked Diego Salazar, editor-in-chief of Forbes México.

Participants agreed that the future of tourism through 2050 will require restoring ecosystems and creating shared value, cementing a joint commitment among the private sector, academia and local communities.

‘Developing Also Means Conserving’

In his welcome address, Akis Neocleous, chief executive of Hoteles Xcaret, said sustainability is not a passing trend for the company but a question of how it understands growth and the responsibility that comes with operating in a place as extraordinary as Grupo Xcaret.

“We believe that developing also means conserving, regenerating, respecting the territory and generating value for the communities we are part of,” he said.

That vision, he added, underscores that business success must be tied to people’s happiness and to the protection of nature — a point echoed by specialists who argued that tourism businesses should not focus solely on accumulating capital but on safeguarding the resilience of biodiversity-rich destinations.