State-Planned Tourism Destinations: The Case of Huatulco, Mexico

Abstract

Despite the intense debate on sustainable tourism, little attention has been paid to attempts by national authorities to mitigate the social impacts of mass tourism destinations in Third World countries. As the example of the state-planned resort of Huatulco on Mexico's southern Pacific coast shows, negative experiences during the 1970s have, indeed, led to modifications in planning strategies and tools. On the basis of structured and semi-structured interviews with tourism business owners and managers, government officials and other key informants, this paper analyses the measures that have been taken by the Mexican government and evaluates their results. It concludes that the problems typical of previous development projects, especially social segregation, burgeoning shantytowns and the formation of economic enclaves, could not be solved. Therefore, not even small-scale and technically well-planned luxury resorts can be considered as a means of initiating socially sustainable regional development, which suggests the need for a more radical re-orientation of tourism policy.