Now, we've been through all the faux-marketing, the greenwashing, and consumers are demanding more responsibility. They are not always orthodox in doing ecotourism. Of course, they want to have more money and they are not always looking out for the interests of nature. And in ecotourism, you have to know which areas to protect, what their carrying capacities are. If you come to Zapata Swamp to look at the birds in a specific area and you bring more than eight or ten people, you can have an impact.
Some areas are very fragile.
To protect against such abuses, Vales has assigned Daysi Vilamajo, head of the national biodiversity center's Landscape Ecology Department, to develop rules for tourism and the environment in Cuba. Vilamajo says that her team has reviewed rules already used by Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia, and Mexico to determine what can be applied to Cuba. The challenge is to balance scientific concerns with the real-world need for tourist dollars. Keeping that balance in mind, Vilamajo hopes that the project will direct Cuba's future with tourism. Few doubt that Cuba's tourism industry will always derive its greatest revenues from beach resorts and cities.