The Riviera Maya Hotel Association and The Seas We Love have urged businesses, academia, and social sectors in Quintana Roo to sign a Solidarity Agreement. This agreement is designed to address the sargassum issue in the Mexican Caribbean in a holistic, sustainable, and community-focused way. The hotel industry's goal is to cut the yearly cost of 2,500 million pesos spent on controlling and managing this seaweed, which has been a significant problem along the Quintana Roo coast for over six years.

The Seas We Love is an all-encompassing initiative that addresses the sargassum issue in the Mexican Caribbean. It aims to turn this serious problem into a fantastic opportunity for promoting sustainable development across the region by valorizing sargassum as a 100% sustainable product.

The Riviera Maya Hotel Association (RMHA) and The Seas We Love (TSWL) have called for the signing of the Solidarity Agreement. This agreement will unite businesses, academia, and the social sector in Quintana Roo to implement this holistic initiative. The goal is to reduce the annual operational cost exceeding 2,500 million pesos that the hotel industry incurs for collecting and transferring the sargassum that washes up on the beaches of the Mexican Caribbean.

The Solidarity Agreement with The Seas We Love formalizes the permanent participation of the business, academic, and social sectors in mitigating this issue in Quintana Roo. Several entities, including COPARMEX, CONCANACO SERVYTUR, Business Coordinating Council, AMEXME, CANIRAC, Entrepreneurs for Quintana Roo, and CNET, were present at the symbolic signing event.

The agreement supports the implementation of this holistic initiative, which allows for the industrialization of sargassum in the Mexican Caribbean. This includes projects for the containment and oceanic collection of sargassum, its transfer to collection centers for treatment, and its valorization into sustainable products for the energy, agriculture, construction, services, and environmental sectors. The products will then be sold under a circular economic model, turning the sargassum issue into an opportunity for Quintana Roo.

Additionally, the National Awards for Sustainable, Inclusive, and Fair Tourism in Mexico were announced. These awards, organized and sponsored by RMHA, TSWL, and the Mexican Caribbean Hotel Council, aim to publicly recognize the most inspiring initiatives promoting sustainable development in Mexico's tourism sector.

The first edition of these awards will be presented at a gala ceremony on November 14th. The awards aim to promote a culture of excellence and innovation in the industry and to highlight successful experiences, projects, companies, and best practices of sustainable tourism in Mexico. They will cover nine categories, including environmental conservation, inclusion and diversity, fair economic development, and the promotion of relations between tourists and their travel destinations.

The gala will also honor the best of the three projects selected during the 1st National Sargasso Challenge.