Monday, August 14, 2006
AMLO (and Others) Harm Mexico’s Tourism Industry
By Allan Wall
Mexico is a tourist bonanza, with something here
for everybody. The country possesses a great variety of scenery. It’s not just the beaches, it’s also the mountains,
deserts, jungles, lakes and even snow-capped volcanoes.
Tourists can visit impressive pre-Hispanic ruins,
including the world’s biggest pyramid (at Cholula, near Puebla), the Sun and Moon Pyramids, the Templo Mayor museum
in Mexico City, Chichen Itza and Coba on the Yucatan Peninsula, et cetera.
The Spaniards constructed beautiful cities like Guanajuato,
Queretaro and Zacatecas. The downtowns of these cities look like they did centuries ago, and make you feel like you’re
in Old Spain. All over Mexico you can visit interesting museums and colonial
churches and take in the local atmosphere.
Mexico also has a great variety of regional cultural
attractions – traditional costumes, dance, and of course, cuisine.
I’ve been privileged to travel around different
parts of Mexico and have really enjoyed it. Not that I’ve seen it all – there are still a lot of places I’d
like to visit, and I’d like to revisit the places I have seen.
Mexico earns about US$11.8 billion from tourism annually,
making it the third highest legal source of income (after petroleum and remittances from Mexicans in the U.S.).
I think it would be great, if in coming years Mexico
could increase its tourism revenues, surpassing remittances to become the second biggest revenue source. Remittances are not
a reliable method of financing Mexico’s economic development. The sooner the country stops depending on them the better.
Tourism, if properly managed, not only helps the
economy, it also encourages local communities to preserve the environment, and historical and cultural sites. After all, if
you let these things deteriorate you’re losing money.
Visitors from the U.S.A. form the biggest contingent
of foreign tourists in Mexico. Every year lots of gringo tourists visit Mexico, have fun, and spend a lot of money. But some
are afraid to visit Mexico. They hear horror stories about U.S. citizens who had bad experiences here.
The vast majority of tourists from the U.S. enjoy
visiting Mexico. But there is a minority of tourists who have bad experiences. Sometimes it’s the tourists’ faults,
sometimes not. But it happens.
And lately there have been some high-profile problems
that discourage potential tourists.
Take Acapulco for example. Lately a turf war between
rival drug cartels has scared away tourists. No tourists have been attacked yet by these gangs, but severed heads rolling
in the with the tide don’t give people a good feeling, and it’s hurting Acapulco. Now they even call it “Narcopulco.”
Another problem is in Oaxaca. This is a poor region
of Mexico where tourist dollars (or euros or pesos or any currency) do a lot of good for the economy. Yet the ongoing months-long
protests in Oaxaca City have discouraged tourism.
The protestors, including teachers who want to
oust the governor from office, have taken over the historic downtown, and they force tourists to pass through their checkpoints.
That doesn’t encourage tourism. Even the annual Guelaguetza festival had to be cancelled. One Oaxaca protest leader
has openly stated that one of their aims is to compel the city’s tourism sector to put pressure on the government.
Mexico City, meanwhile, is Ground Zero for the
ongoing protests led by sore loser Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO).
Ironically, Mexico City is a bastion of support
for AMLO’s PRD (Party of the Democratic Revolution). To show his gratitude, AMLO’s minions are tying up traffic,
setting up camps downtown and generally making a nuisance of themselves.
But it’s more than an inconvenience. It’s
an economic disaster. And by hurting the tourist economy, AMLO harms the very same poor people he claims to fight for. Thanks
to the protests thousands of potential visitors have cancelled their hotel reservations. It’s been estimated that the
demonstrations have been causing Mexico City hotels, restaurants and stores to lose US$23 million daily.
Lopez Obrador might think about what he’s doing
to the people of the city he formerly governed. But now AMLO only seems to care about himself and advancing his own reputation.
Yet it might backfire. The “chilangos”
(Mexican City residents) have to be getting tired of all this. Will this influence the way they vote next time around?
Allan Wall, a MexiData.info columnist, recently
returned from a tour of duty in Iraq. He currently resides in Mexico, where he
has lived since 1991. He can be reached
via e-mail at allan39@prodigy.net.mx.
