An Examination of the Impact of Resort Tourism on the Socio-Economic Organization of a Rural Mayan V I Llage
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TOURISM IN THE PERIPHERY: AN EXAMINATION OF THE IMPACT OF RESORT TOURISM ON THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION OF A RURAL MAYAN V I LLAGE Rita Isola Bachelor of Arts, Simon Fraser University, 1981 THESIs SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Anthropology @ Rita Isola 1987 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY December 1987 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name: Rita Isola Degree: Master of Arts Title of thesis: 'l'oum-i sm in the kcriphery: i\n ExaminaLion of the impact of Hssort 'JLourjsmon the Socio- Kcnnomic Organization of a Rural Mayan Village Examining Committee: Chairman : Gary Teeple Marilyn Gates Senior Supervisor Hari Sharma Superyjsor / Phil Hagner External Examiner Department of Geography PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE I hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the right to lend my thesis, project or extended essay (the title of which is shown below) to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Title of Thesis/Project/Extended Essay Tourism in the Perfphery: ?,n Exa~fnationof tkIe 1rpx-t of Res~rt Tour ism on the Socio-Economic Organization of a Rural flayan Village L Author: (signature) Rita Maria Pia Isola ( name 1 December 7, 1987 (date) ABSTRACT This thesis discusses how planned resort-based tourism in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula has radically transformed communities even on the periphery of such developments. These demographic and socio-economic changes include centre-periphery migration and increasing economic differentiation in both the Maya and non-Maya population. Such changes have resulted in increasingly unequal access to resources such that migrants have assumed control over the emerging tourist enterprises while the Maya are subsumed as unskilled labour on the fringes of this service sector. This thesis, based on nine months of participant observation field work in Tulum, Quintana Roo, contributes to the expanding literature on the anthropology of tourism. However, it deviates from the dominant cost-benefit orientation by focusing on the historical evolution of Maya marginality as expressed in evolving ethnic and class relations. L The conclusions show that while tourism is bringing increased employment opportunities to the peripheral areas, an increase in the standard of living of the Maya is not a necessary concomitant. In fact, the Maya seem to be suffering from intensified exploitation and pauperization. This results not from any intrinsically "anti-developmental" characteristics of tourism per se, but rather is consequent on the ongoing marginalization process which has effectively made the Maya peripheral to the centre since the colonial era. For this iii reason, this thesis argues that any analysis of the impact of social change (particularly tourism) on the Maya, at the community level, must address a complex of factors (colonial, ethnic and class relations) which have contributed to their progressive underdevelopment. Tourism has simply accelerated this marginalization process by intensifying and perpetuating the peripheral position of the Maya vis a vis changing national, regional and local power loci. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author is extremely grateful for the continuing support and guidance of her committee and in particular her supervisor, Dr. Marilyn Gates. The author would also like to acknowledge Catherine Fitton's invaluable comments in the preparation of this thesis. DEDICATION To Mercedes, Antonia and the rest of my friends in Tulum TABLE OF CONTENTS Approval .................................................... ii Abstract ................................................... iii Acknowledgements ............................................. v Dedication .................................................. vi List of Figures ........................................ viii List of Tables ........................................ ix I. Tourism on the Periphery ................................ 1 \.Tourism: An Anthropological Perspective ................. 2 The Ethnic Factor in Mexico ............................ 24 The Peasant Immemorial ................................. 26 Anthropological Inquiry: From The Library To The Jungle 31 11. Yucatecans, Spaniards and Mexicans; The Marginalization of the Maya ........................................ 37 111. Tourism As Planned Development in Quintana Roo ......... 67 IV. Tourism on the Periphery ............................... 97 Part 0ne:Tulum Yesterday and Today ..................... 97 The Pre-tourism Economic Activites Of The Tulum Maya .. 111 Part Two: Tourism and the Quintana Roo Maya ........... 114 V. Tourism in Tulum: Economic Differentiation at the Household Level ....................................... 146 -- The Gonzalez Fami1y:Tulum 1983 ........................ 170 Don Paredes:Tulum 1983 ................................ 174 VI. Tourism and Ethnic Relations .......................... 182 - BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................ 198 Appendix A: ~ifeon a hacienda ............................. 210 Appendix B: A Glossary of Foreign Words .................... 212 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page Map of Important Maya Archaeological Sites ............. 40 Region under Cruzob Control ............................ 58 Colonial Companies in Quintana Roo 1890-1898 ........... 62 Tulum and Area ........................................ 71 Major Tourist Resorts in Mexico ........................ 83 Tourism Development Zone. Quintana Roo ................. 88 Plan of Cancun ........................................ 90 Cancun:Development Status. 1978 ........................ 91 Tulum Village Street ................................... 98 A Typical Maya Solar .................................. 103 Maya House-types ...................................... 105 Maya House-types ...................................... 105 A Mestiza and a Catrin ................................ 109 A Mestiza and a Catrin ................................ 109 Spatial Organization of Tulum and the Ruins ........... 119 . The Tulum Tourism Zone ................................ 138 viii LIST OF TABLES Table Page Distribution of Visitors to Select Tourist Sites ....... 93 Tourist Receipts from Mexican and Foreign Tourists ..... 93 Growth of Coastal Towns 1970-1980 ..................... 117 Economically Active Population in Quintana Roo ........ 129 E nomi ally Active population in A B66~A$8!% 860t!Sd E8zumef ........................... 130 Quintana Roo Fishing Cooperative Infrastructure ....... 133 The Production of Fish in Quintana Roo. 1978 .......... 134 Educational Levels in Quintana Roo. 1960-1970 ......... 149 The Average Price of Basic Commodities in 1983 ........ 155 Income and Expense of an Ejidatario Household ......... 157 Income and Expenses of a Fishing Household ............ 160 Income and Expenses of a Merchant Household ........... 163 Income and Expenses of a Jornalero Household .......... 166 CHAPTER I TOURISM ON THE PERIPHERY Introduction This thesis examines the role of tourism in the social and economic development of contemporary Mexico and discusses the effects of resort-based tourism on towns and villages in the peripheral or fringe areas of designated tourist zones. Resort tourism, first established in Acapulco in the 19201s, was characterized by spontaneous, unplanned development. Not until the 1960's was tourism an integral part of national development policy. In 1961 a tourism ministry was created called --El Fondo Nacional -Del Turismo (FONATUR, National Tourism Development Agency). This had two important implications for subsequent tourism policy. First, tourism was acknowledged as a viable development strategy and second, future tourism in Mexico would be controlled through direct government interventi.on (Jud,1974; L Lee,1977). Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, situated on the Pacific coast and Cancun, situated on the Caribbean coast were targeted as Mexico's first planned tourist resorts. This emphasis on development through tourism represented a new orientation for the Mexican government, but not a surprising one, for in 1961 tourism was.fast becoming a major world industry and a major source'.of foreign exchange for Third World economies (Turner, 1976). This thesis will trace the effects that Cancun's government planned tourism industry has had on the indigenous Maya population living in Tulum, a village which lies on the periphery of Cancun's tourist zone. This is an important focus because one of the assumptions behind tourist-dependent development is that economic benefits will "spill-over" into the periphery (Noronha, 1979). To date there has been little conclusive evidence in the tourism literature which supports or disproves this assumption. In fact tourism studies have tended to ignore areas peripheral to major tourist centres, in favor of studies which deal with dramatic effects and changes in the centre. Tourism: -An Anthropoloqical Perspective The study of tourism encompasses a wide range of concerns ranging from