Diversity is the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

During the month of December, and specifically on December 10th, we celebrate International Human Rights Day. This date is especially important now as we mark the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The broader context of the post-World War II era is quite significant for tourism as we experience it today. Similarly, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a fundamental tool for ensuring that tourism occurs in a broad and safe manner. One of the declaration's main characteristics is how it directly impacts tourism by recognizing individual freedoms inherent to all human beings.

The declaration is a universal commitment and recognizes the uniqueness of each human being and all their plurality. It also celebrates our similarities as equals in the face of rights that are fundamental to all people, regardless of their individual characteristics.

The declaration offers a fresh perspective on the outdated view that all people should be absolutely equal, a notion very similar to views that, shortly before the declaration, would have found a place in totalitarian regimes that attempted to eliminate diverse and divergent populations and individuals.

The declaration itself is a celebration of human diversity and how people, regardless of their personal characteristics and perceptions of the world, deserve dignified treatment.

Tourism itself is a celebration of peace, integration, and freedom. There is no sustainable tourism activity where there is prejudice and violence. We identify degrading tourism activities when there is a massified, and therefore invasive, aggressive, and totalitarian view of this economic activity.

There is a movement in tourism today, similar to what has been happening mainly since the 2000s, in which all economic activities are seeking a path towards greater social and ecological sustainability, but also an understanding that economic sustainability is directly linked to our own survival as a species and civilization. Understanding diverse tourism that encompasses all characteristics and all worldviews in a respectful way is also to understand tourism as something more responsible and as a tool for integrating cultures and building missions of peace.

When we talk about diversity, we are not talking about specific groups of marginalized populations, but about all people who share fundamental impressions and characteristics of dignity, and who can be segmented in different ways and understandings.

All these segmentations have intersectionalities; therefore, they all represent different groups and intersect in this representation. Thinking about the population and humanity strictly through compartmentalized labels is an exclusionary approach. It's necessary to consider that authenticity also exists in the interrelation of worlds, people, and perceptions. We need to leave myopic and shallow thinking in the past.

As we begin the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is important to return to its foundations and original concepts. To reflect on what we want as a tourism activity and what we want as human beings: all unique individuals who participate and coexist in the same global community.