Taken from Diario Libre
PEDERNALES.– The first phase of the proposed tourism project for the Cabo Rojo area will be able to receive 443,908 guests annually, an average of 1,216 tourists per day, while the creation of 8,325 jobs will be required to materialize it, according to the projections of the tourist carrying capacity study commissioned by the Pro-Pedernales Trust and carried out by the company Russa García y Asociados, of which Diario Libre obtained a copy.
According to the document and as the Government has announced, the first phase of the Cabo Rojo tourism project will include eight hotels (4,700 rooms) and four eco-hotels -1,100 rooms- for a total of 5,800 rooms.
Capacity projections were determined through a standard measurement parameter of 2.5 average guests per room per night.
The document establishes three criteria for tourist capacity. The first is physical carrying capacity (PCC), which averages 1,702 guests per night and 621,180 per year. The second is actual carrying capacity (ACC), which proposes a figure of 1,216 guests per night and 443,908 per year. The third is management carrying capacity (MCC), which projects 1,216 tourists per night and 443,908 per year.
Tourist carrying capacity is a study that measures the physical, social, and environmental impact of tourist traffic in a given area. Specifically, it is the maximum number of people a space can support before environmental resources are impacted.
The CCF establishes the number of people who can visit the area without considering the potential damage. The CCR calculates the total number of guests who could arrive at the tourism project, considering the potential harm to natural resources. Meanwhile, the CCM sets the limit on the number of people who can occupy the development area without causing damage, which is the recommended limit.
To those 443,908 annual guests and 1,216 daily visitors, we must add 884 from the Islas del Cabo vacation-residential project, 1,238 residents of Pueblo Rojo, 154 people linked to the area's commercial projects, 251 from an institutional complex to be built, and 329 from the service areas. In total, the Cabo Rojo-Pedernales project area would see 4,072 people pass through daily and 1,486,280 per year, including travelers and transient personnel, not counting the project's direct and indirect employees.
Many new jobs
The study data indicates that phase 1 of the project, already underway, will require 8,325 direct jobs to complete it, while approximately 24,975 indirect jobs will be created, according to estimates.
Of the direct jobs, 32 percent (2,664) will be equipment operators and 25 percent will be laborers at various levels (2,081). The project will also require 25 percent mid-level technicians (2,081), 10 percent first-line management (833), five percent middle management (416), and three percent senior management (250).
It is estimated that the entire Cabo Rojo-Pedernales development project, in its four phases, will create a total of 18,295 direct jobs and 54,885 indirect jobs.
Literacy plan?
The study emphasizes the need to train the staff who will work in the tourist area, given that “the Cabo Rojo-Pedernales Tourism Development Plan requires a specialized technical workforce, which contrasts with a condition of the context, since illiteracy in the Pedernales area (area of influence of the project), for ages between 15 and 24 years is between 30-40 percent, a very important aspect to consider, since to guarantee that the local population benefits it is necessary to develop an accelerated literacy plan, which puts this population in a position to be technically prepared, so that later they can be incorporated into the project.”.
Literacy programs in Pedernales “can be an opportunity for young people in the area to access secure and skilled employment,” the publication states, adding that “for phases 1, 2, 3 and 4, 82 percent of the positions requested are for personnel at a technical or laborer level, around 6,800 workers in phase I alone, in the operations area and with various levels of responsibility.”.
He adds that the population should be prepared in areas such as “customer service, reception, housekeeping and room attendants, general maintenance (electrical, plumbing, swimming pools, gardening, etc.), food and beverages (basic cooking, fine dining, bartending, pastry making, baking, restaurant waiter, food handling, etc.), administration and accounting (inventory management, cost control, human resource management, basic computer skills), languages (English, French), tour guiding, sales and marketing, environmental education and management, and nature interpretation.”.
And housing?
All those people will need somewhere to live because, despite the fact that the population of Pedernales has grown steadily, there is a shortage of labor and, above all, a housing shortage, which currently hovers around 82 percent.
“There is not a sufficient real estate market for buying and selling homes, which hinders access to housing for people who may arrive as a result of the project's construction. The current supply is already precarious, even for residents of the surrounding areas,” the document states.
“It is estimated that for every employee on the project, an average of four family members come to live in the area, and that some of them could also be part of the required workforce. However, for calculation purposes, it should be estimated that 8,325 workers will be needed for direct employment in phase 1, of which 2,500 could be from Pedernales itself and nearby towns, 4,325 would be from other, more distant cities and would have to live in Pedernales, but the remaining positions, totaling 1,500 jobs, correspond to upper and middle management, who are expected to live in the housing units built within Cabo Rojo,” he adds.
The environmental burden
The study highlights the environmental sensitivity of the area and calls for construction to be developed according to the guidelines for flood and wetland areas, from the design phase.
“Habitat loss and fragmentation are among the causes of biodiversity decline, so it is necessary to contribute to the creation of ecological corridors that provide connectivity between sensitive areas, ensuring the conservation of biodiversity found at the study site, with the aim of maintaining the ecological characteristics of different environments, focusing on endemic and native species,” the study states.
Another critical issue is the management of water and solid waste, aspects that environmental groups have pointed out as critical to avoid a negative impact on the development zone.
“The necessary calculations will be carried out to allow the management instruments, in accordance with the integrated and sustainable management of water resources, to be established to guarantee the quality, quantity and flow regime of water required to maintain the components, functions, processes and resilience of wetland ecosystems, this with the purpose of conserving their ecological flow,” the document states, which projects a daily production of 46.22 tons of garbage per day.
According to expert calculations, in the first phase of the Cabo Rojo project, the largest production of waste will be generated by organic waste and food scraps, so a high commitment to recycling is being promoted.
In fact, the study estimates that 88 percent of the waste generated could be recyclable, so it urges "planning the areas related to collection centers" and the "possible reuse and marketing" of that material.
