Stewart Moore, founder and chief executive of EarthCheck, argued that sustainability should guide investment decisions rather than serve as a marketing tool. "It is not only about numbers, but about what we leave to communities," he said. His approach puts the discussion on practical ground: before building a hotel or expanding a port, it is worth asking what will remain in the territory once the project matures.
Daniel Walsh, founder and chief executive of Reforest, proposed measuring net ecological change, comparing the forests and reefs that are restored against the land cleared for infrastructure. He also urged developers to listen to residents instead of letting outsiders set the priorities. "If we make a place excellent to live in, it will also be excellent to visit," he summed up. He further suggested collective restoration programmes, validated in advance, so that small and medium-sized businesses can take part without shouldering the cost alone.
From the consultancy Kearney, Óscar Márquez suggested that every project should answer a simple but demanding question: does it make the destination stronger? That reading forces a joint look at the economy, the community and the environment, not only at a business's immediate profitability.
Demand data back this shift. A Booking.com report on travel and sustainability found that 98% of Mexican travellers want to make more sustainable choices and that 79% want their spending to benefit local communities directly. Walsh noted that 84% of tourists look for responsible options, although they do not want to pay for them as a surcharge and would rather find them built into the experience. Mexico already has more than 420 accommodations with third-party sustainability certification, a base that could grow if incentives follow.
The speakers agreed that responsibility cannot rest on a single actor. Governments, companies, trade associations, residents and visitors must all play a part, and projects should be judged by their contribution to protecting ecosystems, giving communities access to resources and keeping the wealth they generate in the local economy.
For travellers, all this will probably mean destinations that cap visitor numbers, demand more transparency from hotels and offer experiences more closely tied to place. For investors, it means a change of criteria: projects able to show verifiable environmental and social benefits will have a better chance of attracting funding and winning community backing.
Mexico, in short, faces a paradox familiar to many mature destinations: the more attractive it becomes, the greater the risk of damaging what makes it attractive. The conversation in Xcaret suggests the industry is starting to accept that, and that the next stage of Mexican growth will be measured not only in arrivals and foreign currency, but in recovered forests, available water and neighbours who see tourism as an ally.
