Essays

Sustainable Tourism: Hacienda Tres Rios
A Yucatan Holidays Property – Rivera Maya, Mexico

David Young, Barbadian Intern & winner of the CHTA Education Foundation Scholarship 2009
Hacienda Tres Rios is an intricately designed resort sitting on more than 300 acres of land, 150 of which is a nature preserve. See picture on the right.

Tres Rios was born as an ecological park and has inherited a deeply rooted set of environmental values that guide its development and operation. The resort is dedicated to sustainable tourism in order to ensure that guests will be able to enjoy its incredible diversity both now and in the future. As quoted from the Tres Rios Ecology Mission, the aim of the resort is:

• To be the leading model for sustainable luxury tourism in the Mexican Caribbean.
• To guarantee the enduring, intelligent and responsible use of the property’s jungle, mangrove, dune and marine ecosystems.
• To guarantee the long-term preservation of the ecosystems’ environmental functions, flora and fauna.
• To provide high-end vacation experiences for the guests of Tres Ríos.

As far as I have experienced in the three weeks of living and working in the Tres Rios environment, I believe that they are succeeding in attaining the goals which have been set. The following are my observations and experiences of the operation of the resort and eco-park.
The environmental policies and programs that resort Tres Rios has implemented have, in my opinion been extremely important in protecting and sustaining the eco- park which was in existence before the resort was built. These policies and programs have also allowed the hotel to function in such a way as to have the least possible impact on the environment, like the wetlands and mangroves, realising that these ecosystems play a very important function. An example of these policies is the absence of motorised vehicles within the park. See picture on the left.

Many steps were taken to assist the resort in the undertaking of their ecology mission. One of the first steps was becoming a member of the Rainforest Alliance. This is an organisation dedicated to saving and protecting our earth’s natural habitat.
2) The resort had the hotel built on stilts to allow the natural flow of water through the mangroves which surrounds the hotel in order to preserve the ecosystem.
3) A reforestation program was implemented online for the eco park and mangroves in the area that was destroyed by hurricane Wilma in 2005.


The picture on the left shows an area of mangrove devastated by Hurricane Wilma. The picture on the right shows the reforestation efforts taken to rehabilitate the mangrove.

4) A recycling program is used to reduce the resources of energy being used and the refuse is sent to a treatment plant on property. See pictures below.


5) A desalination plant, also on property, is used to provide water for the bathrooms, showers and kitchen. This water can also be used for drinking but only if absolutely necessary. See photos below.

6) The air conditioning system is also an interesting operation. Cold water is piped in from the underground rivers and directed to the air conditioning systems throughout the hotel. This means that less energy is used to cool the hotel rooms. When this water is heated up by the hot air taken in by the A/C unit, having lost all its cooling properties, it is then collected in a holding tank, heated up a few more degrees Celsius and reused as hot water throughout the hotel. See photos below.


On the left this is a photo of the equipment used to pump cold water from the underground rivers to the A/C systems. On the right this is a photo of the holding tanks used to collect the heated water from the A/C systems.

I have worked along with the management and staff at Tres Rios, a Yucatan Holidays property, and found that they are trained to a high standard which allows them to fulfil their duties in the most professional manner.

They are warm, friendly and hospitable people so I am proud to say that it’s been an honour and pleasure to work among such people who have opened their hearts and souls to me. I am extremely grateful to have been given this opportunity.





Myself (David Young) and Gabriel Santoyo (Chief Environmental Officer)






Written by
David Young, 26/09/2009

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