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Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Ecotourism Already Touted
State Tourism Department officials last week waxed breathless about “ecotourism” — the kind of travel where people go someplace to enjoy natural beauty and “improve the well-being of nearby communities.” It's a hot new niche market, exclaimed the tourism department folks, and New Mexico needs to be part of it.
To do so, Tourism Department Secretary Michael Cerletti says he needs half a million bucks more in his budget this year so he can offer “a bigger PR machine” to small, ecotourist-oriented businesses all over the state.
Sounds wonderful. But Cerletti may be forgetting one detail: Some small communities in New Mexico, particularly here in the north, aren't always interested in big PR machines and maybe not in what a horde of strangers would contribute to their “well-being,” either.
Remember when the village of Chimayó decided it didn't want Robert Redford and the rest of Hollywood filming “The Milagro Beanfield War” in town? (To be fair, the movie did get filmed in another rural northern community, Truchas.)
Or when the residents of several small settlements over by Tierra Amarilla, as well as the Jicarilla Apache Nation, managed to stall construction of the Continental Divide Trail, a national project on the scale of the great Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails? Eventually, that same opposition resulted in the trail being rerouted, in at least two places, away from the Divide.
But the real problem with Cerletti's request for a budget increase to promote “ecotourism” is that his department already advertises New Mexico in just the way he was describing last week. The department's glossy brochure promotes exactly the kinds of natural and cultural attractions he says appeal to ecotourists — everything from White Sands National Monument to the Gathering of Nations Pow-Wow and the Santa Fe Fiesta. The brochure includes pictures of snow-covered mountains, whitewater rafting, lists of backcountry outfitters and links to charming or off-the-beaten sights and businesses all over the state.
(Another quibble: We are flatly confused by the latest buzzwords. What's the difference between “ecotourism” and “cultural tourism,” the subject of a conference in Santa Fe last year? The Tourism Department's kickoff event for its ecotourism push featured American Indian dancers, which we thought was the kind of activity promoted by “cultural tourism.”)
In short, people already come to New Mexico for its scenic beauty and wide-open spaces. And they also already come here to partake of our cultural diversity. What would the $500,000 proposed for the ecotourism division get us except another boatload of consultants?
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