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Constructing Paradise: The Impacts of Big Tourism in the Mexican Coastal Zone

2007; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 35; Issue: 2-3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/08920750601169600

1521-0421

Grant Murray,

Cruise Tourism Development and Management

Abstract Although coastal tourism is often looked to as a way of generating foreign revenue, it can also engender a range of social and environmental impacts. From an historical perspective, this article examines the growth of Cancún in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo since the late 1960s. The article documents a range of socioeconomic and environmental impacts associated with the rise of coastal tourism, and suggests that centralized planning and the provision of physical and financial infrastructure does not prevent those impacts. The principal causes of these impacts are also described, including changes in land-usage, population, tourism markets, foreign market penetration and control, an emphasis on short-term economic gain, weak regulatory enforcement, and an overall lack of integration of coastal zone management. Keywords: Cancúnenvironmental impacts of tourismintegrated coastal managementMexicosocial impacts of tourismtourism life cycle Notes 1. Quintana Roo became a state in 1974. For a more detailed description of environmental and social conditions prior to the 1970s see CitationMurray, (2003). 2. CitationMacrae (1999) reports that in 1988 the original Master Plan was changed, and the total number of rooms was changed to 35,000, a move that may have been more about accommodating projected reality than true planning. 3. The most recent phase of growth in the tourism industry in Quintana Roo has been into eco-tourism centered on the Costa Maya, the marketing name given to the southern, largely undeveloped end of the state (see Healy, 1997 for the national policy context). Nature or culturally oriented tourism has become the next thing in consumer demand and the Costa Maya project must be understood—at least in part—as an attempt to tap into the market potential represented by those interested in a more 'natural' or 'authentic' experience. While the move towards this new market is an important one from the point of view of Butler's destination life cycle model, it is not explored in detail here (see CitationMurray, 2003 for additional detail). 4. CitationCesary Dechary and Arnaiz Burne (1998) estimate that the actual figure might be closer to 42% in 1990, again due to difficulties in accurately assessing urban populations. See also INEGI, 2000. 5. Yet, somewhat paradoxically, there has actually been a concurrent atomization of rural areas, particularly in the southern zone (though also in non-coastal areas of the north). Improved communications and supply mechanisms, and the emergence of more intensive agriculture (versus the shifting milpa) have precipitated significant increases in the number of agriculturally oriented settlements (supported by some government programs) of less than 100 persons (CitationCesar Dechary & Arnaiz Burne, 1998). There are large cities and very small settlements, in other words, but very few intermediately sized villages. 6. Other social indicators have shifted as well, though it is difficult to assign negative or positive connotations to them. As the urbanization pattern has shifted, for example, so have such things as marriage patterns. There has been an increase in the number of civil ceremonies versus religious ones, and divorce rates (in urban areas particularly) have increased. Catholicism has declined, from nearly 90% in the 70s to under 80% in the 80s (versus 90% country-wide). Birth rates have dropped, from 3.4 in 1970 to 2.3 in 1990, though again there is a difference between the Mayan zone and urbanized tourist areas. The birth rates in José Maria Morelos, for example, in 1990 remained at 3.2 while in Benito Juarez they dropped to 1.9 (CitationCesar Dechary & Arnaiz Burne, 1998). The age structure in Quintana Roo, however, is also quite young: 2/3 of the population is under the age of 30 (CitationINEGI, 2000), despite the fact that the birth rate in the early 90s rate per woman is the lowest in the nation—again highlighting the importance of migration to the area (CitationGQR, 1993).