A Recipe for Disaster: Planned Tourism Development in México

Planned Tourism Development (PTD) aims to promote economic growth within a destination, place or region. In theory, PTD is supposed to improve the quality of life for residents, creating jobs, infrastructure and economic growth. However, once implemented, irreversible negative impacts emerge. One particularly notable example of PTD and its negative consequences is Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico which began PTD in the 1970s. Since then, some quality of life indices have improved. However, the nominal benefits hide a radical increase in wealth disparity and serious environmental damages.  

Planned Tourism Development is a “state sponsored large scale planned development of an area [...] for an economic development strategy [...]. PTD is typically planned and built from the ground up in unique, isolated and attractive locations” (Torres and Momsen 2005, 259).

The strategy of tourism development has been followed by many countries due to its stimulation of rapid economic growth, yet this quick growth generates negative outcomes. We examine the implementation of PTD in Cancun as a way of understanding the impacts and consequences of government-led development projects in the tourism sector. 

In the 1970s, the Mexican government set out to develop the coastal region of Quintana Roo state into an industrial, international tourist destination. Cancun quickly became one of the most developed cities within the state, as developers and investors emerged onto the landscape ( Torres and Momsen 2005 , 261). The government believed that centralized tourism planning would increase the country's GDP and help stimulate growth in this ‘poor’ region  (Torres and Momsen 2005, 259) . Cancun´s “success” as a tourism destination can be measured through GDP growth due to the high influx of tourist arrivals (Graph 1). But, Cancun was a victim of its success. Its growth as a tourist destination has brought social, environmental, and economic consequences.

Some of the most detrimental impacts of PTD in the Cancun region has been, “the rural migration that has occurred in response to the concentration of wealth and employment in urban resorts” (Torres and Momsen 2005, 269) . This has created a housing shortage, increased the cost of living in the city; many tourism workers struggled to pay rent  (Torres and Momsen 2005, 261) . Moreover, increasing tourist arrivals in the beginning of 2000 led to an increase in population density resulting in a larger number of people living in one area, which has been shown to induce higher living costs. Additionally, the increase in tourism has overwhelmed the waste management system across Cancun, resulting in polluted waters and damaged or degraded ecosystems  (Torres and Momsen 2005, 26 9). 

In the 1970s, Quintana Roo’s Planned Tourism Development plan prioritized economic growth that resulted in unintended yet predictable social and environmental impacts. Correspondingly, Planned Tourism Development propagated inequities that exacerbated existing socioeconomic divides and fostered uneven geographic development. The outcomes of PTD are observable in Cancun in the 21st century; restructuring extractive tourism economies of scale is critical to the social, environmental, and economic well-being of the region. 

Quintana Roo’s Tourism accounts for 87% of their GDP  (Espejel and Sherman 2021) . Quintana Roo’s PTD has been proven to be successful “with respect to its central profit-making objectives, it has failed to stimulate significant backward linkages to other economic sectors, notably agriculture and small-scale industry” (Torres and Momsen 2005, 257) . As a result of Quintana Roo’s failed attempt to stimulate other economic sectors, it had led it to becoming heavily dependent on tourism. For example, the Graph 1 indicates the correlation between tourism flows and local employment: when the GDP for tourism is low, unemployment rises within the region. When people in Quintana Roo are out of work they cannot search for jobs in other economic sectors because these industries have been disappearing due to increased tourism growth.  

Another economic risk is the increase in all-inclusive resorts. An all inclusive resort is a hotel where one purchases a prepaid package that includes the costs of the hotel room, food and beverages, and activities for one's stay. They have become increasingly popular among tourists due to their relatively affordable prices. However, because all-inclusive resorts offer all the amenities, tourists don’t feel the need to leave. As a result, this has placed an economic burden on small business operators within the region. They own places such as restaurants, coffee shops, tours, gift shops, etc. If tourists are not actively going to these centers to explore and contribute to the local economy, these businesses cannot generate revenue. 

Graph 2 demonstrates the correlation between Quintana Roo’s total tourist arrivals and the total number of hotel rooms in relation to their population density, between the years 2000-2015. The data indicates that as more tourists are arriving, more hotel rooms are being built, the population density increased. 

There is social inequity in Cancun; one can see a strong discrepancy between people who live in luxury residential complexes and those who live in areas of high marginality. In the case of those who work in hotels, Morales Barbosa (Ugalde, 2008) refers there is a contrast between work in the opulence and luxury and subsist within the minimum food and housing conditions. (Martínez, Nechar, and González, n.d., 24)

Data from the Socioeconomic Indicators in major zones of Quintana Roo table demonstrates that only a few have benefited from PTDs rapid growth. The Tourist Zone has seen the highest growth whereas other zones in the state are still deprived of basic human services. For instance, in the Tourist zone, 3.6% are illiterate whereas in the Mayan and Southern Zone it’s 12.7%  and 6.8%. Moreover, the Tourist zone provides 90.0% of the total wages paid compared to the other two zones which only account for 1% to 9%. The data confirms the point that the state and people are heavily dependent on the tourism sector for their livelihoods.

Hurricanes:

Quintana Roo is susceptible to being hit by hurricanes. The first map identifies the location of several resorts and hotels within Cancun, the two images presented below are two examples of major hurricanes that hit Cancun in 2005 and 2020. The two hurricanes impacted areas of Quintana Roo that had a lot of resorts, causing major damages to tourism infrastructures.

Damages from hurricanes are substantial, Hurricane Wilma caused “severe ecological damage, coastal lines underwent a transformation by losing dunes and beaches. The jungle and the reef were affected and the phreatic zone was polluted”  (Martínez, Nechar, and González, n.d., 21) . 

Planned tourism development required Cancun to remove the mangroves that surrounded the beaches in order to build hotels and resorts. This increased the likelihood of damage from hurricanes  (Martínez, Nechar, and González, n.d., 21) .

“Intuitively, because mangrove forests act as barriers to obstruct flow and buffer winds, protection is expected to increase with their density and width” (Valle et al. 2020). 

In doing so it removed their only natural line of protection against hurricanes. Because of PTD it has overall increased the risk of negative environmental impacts, including hurricanes. 

Waste Management:

Quintan Roo is located on permeable soil, so rainwater tends to leak into the waterbeds  (Martínez, Nechar, and González, n.d., 22) . Due to the rapid population growth of Cancun it has not been able to manage the amount of waste produced by its residents and tourists. This has led to sewage tanks leaking into oceanic waters, polluting them and damaging ecosystems. In addition this water has contaminated underground waterbeds that are used for drinking. Moreover, uncontrolled garbage has ended up on the streets and in oceans where facilities do not have the capacity to process it. Graph 6 demonstrates the rapid increase of garbage collected daily between 2010-2014. When you compare Graph 6 with Graph 2, you can see the correlation between an increase in the number of tourist arrivals and an increase in the amount of trash collected daily. 

Despite the obvious negative impacts of PTD, there has been little proactive change on the part of government or vested tourism interests. PTD has revealed the government's prioritization of economic gain above the lives of its citizens. Change needs to be made in order to put their people and the environment first. It is important to identify the risks and negative impacts are not limited to this area, but are very common and happen all over the world (Becker 2016). 

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