Abstract
The development of tourism destinations worldwide has been portrayed as an
effective vehicle to achieve development goals. The economic potential of
tourism-related activities has captured the attention of several governments
generating a special interest to obtain all its benefits for the local contexts in
which tourists resorts are built. However, the experience has shown that tourism
has failed -especially in developing countries- to contribute to development ends
(Gamble, 1989; Richter, 1989; Sharpley and Telfer, 2002). This paper will examine the implementation of tourism policy in Mexico in the early 1970s. This
policy included the planning and construction of tourist resorts throughout the
Mexican coasts with the aim to transform these places into development poles.
Cancun, one of the planned resorts, has become the most important Mexican
destination contributing with approximately 35% of the Mexico’s total receipts by
tourism-related activities (FONATUR, 2005). Its international fame derived from
its explosive growth and massive marketing has historically eclipsed the social
and political implications of the government’s intervention in this place. The lack
of attention to these processes has produced an information gap that this paper
wishes to address. This work utilises Hall’s (1994) model to examine tourism
policy processes. Special consideration will be paid to some of the political and
social consequences that this policy has produced over time. The main
conclusion of this paper is that the design, implementation and subsequent
changes of this policy in Cancun has had direct effects in the unequal
distribution of benefits from tourism-related activities, privileging the interests of
powerful groups -national and foreign- of the tourism industry over local interests
on economic, social, environmental, political, or cultural development.