Have you ever wondered how Co’ox Mayab works? How we agree upon making certain actions? How often do we see each other?
As you know, Co’ox Mayab is a union of touristic cooperatives located in different parts of Yucatan. This peculiar organization form is one of our enterprise’s strengths but also a challenge. To overcome it, we organize periodic assemblies, the same way a cooperative does, so that the partner members can share information, take trainings and pass time together.
This way, on Monday September 10th, the extraordinary general assembly of Co’ox Mayab took place. It was at the UADY’s Ex Faculty of Anthropology at 10 a.m. Its aim was to inform the partner members about the activities and work results of the term January-August 2018. Several representatives of each of Co’ox Mayab’s cooperatives attended, from the coast of San Felipe in the northeast of Yucatan to San Agustin, in the south of the state.
The assembly began with the attendance registration, followed by the assembly’s legal installation and the appointment of the debate panel. It is thanks to Mr. Juvencio Torres that this process is carried out in a correct and legal way, as he has a lot of experience in working with cooperatives and guides us in legal aspects.
Afterwards we proceeded with the presentation of the current funding for Co’ox Mayab. Fortunately, we have allies like the Institute for Social Development (INDESOL) – who visited us briefly –, ADO Foundation, Fomento Social Banamex, the German foundation VISOZIAL and the UADY Foundation, who have trusted our initiative and have funded us, therewith strengthening us in operative, organizational, commercial and touristic quality terms.
Later, the operative team presented its January-August report. Some of the activities that were presented are the first ever appearance of Co’ox Mayab in the magazine Yucatán Today, a summary of the content created for social media, the webpage’s renovation as well as the trips and tours operated in the first semester of 2018. Also, the students who are doing their social service with us and collaborate in the enterprise’s operation were introduced and some strategies for 2019 were discussed.
To end the assembly, digital materials like photographs and videos of each cooperative were handed to the partners, so that they can distribute and share them in their communities, as well as copies of the legal documents of the union. In addition to the assembly, the workshop “Accounting and tax obligations for the development of good practices in community-based touristic companies” was carried out on September 10th and 11th, held by the CPA (Certified Public Accountant) Flor Marrufo Gómez, who also has a master’s degree in taxes.
With this kind of actions, we continue moving forward in the training and commercialization of alternative community-based tourism in Yucatan, promoting a fair, solidary and conscious tourism that benefits our state’s local communities.
Written by: Abraham Puebla & Liliaydi Briceño
Translated by: Jan Martín Müller
