Tourism Does Not Always Equal Progress

The Yucatan peninsula is the setting for many of our childhood memories - separately traveling from Mexico City and from the Colorado mountains with our families. We both grew up with the sense that the Yucatan was a sacred place for family; a place to adventure and to rest in joyful sunshine together. ⠀It was the first place we traveled to with our own baby. As a new mother, I was so excited to introduce our little one to the ocean and to the ancient waters of Yucateco cenotes. Cenotes are a fragile underground ecosystem of waterways that have been revered and cared for by indigenous people for thousands of years. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

During the past 35 years of travel on the peninsula we have personally witnessed tourism explode as a direct result of privatization and public land grabs. Many ancestral cenotes have been privatized for profit along with much of the beach and ocean along what it marketed as the 'Mayan Riviera'. Ever expanding mega all inclusive hotels cater to foreign fantasies about what 'Mexico' has to offer them and the so called 'Eco-sheik' movement that appropriates indigenous culture for those seeking to 'connect' while charging in US dollars. In one lifetime we have seen this trend directly denying local people access to the lands and waters that have been a part of cultural legacy for millennia.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Right now the Mexican government is working to begin a project of large scale deforestation to make way for a semi-diesel train they are calling the Tren Maya.

The Project & Funding⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

In 2018, (then) Mexican President-elect proposed a project that would circulate 1,525 Km or 948 miles of diesel/electric railway around the Yucatan Peninsula. Beginning in Palenque, Chiapas the train line would cut though jungle northeast towards Cancún in Quintana Roo, carving along the coast to Merida and then back towards Chiapas crossing lands in Campeche and Tabasco before closing the loop. The project aims to connect tourist destinations, ancient Mayan sites, to carry freight and service the military needs in the area. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

In 2019 a local vote was held, only 2.36% (100,940) of the total population who are registered to vote (3,536,000) shared their voice. The United Nations Human Rights Council along with local indigenous activist groups have criticized the vote citing the inaccessibility of polling places for many rural indigenous people and the limited one sided discussion which heavily promoted the supposed benefits of tourism and did not make any attempt to address the environmental concerns, indigenous displacement or cultural destruction of sacred sites. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

In December 2018 the projects was estimated to cost $150 billion pesos (US$7.4 billion) and attract 8,000 daily riders. By October 2020 the estimated total cost of the project not including the partial electrification expanded to approximately $321 billion Mexican pesos (US$16 billion) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

In December 2020 president López Obrador announced that the armed forces would operate three sections of the route, and that profits would be used to strengthen finances for pensioners and retirees of the armed forces. By March 2021 National Fund for Tourism Development (Fonatur) general director Rogelio Jiménez Pons said that the military would own the entire route, not just the three sections, and would receive all of the profits.

The Construction & Opposition⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

As of September 2020 lucrative contracts for construction have been awarded to combination of Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese and Mexican construction companies. In January 2020 it was announced that 4 kilometers of the train would be built underground so that the historical colonial center of Merida would be undisturbed. Little public discussion has been presented about the potential damage to the intricate and still incompletely mapped network of fresh water cenotes impacted by the proposed construction area.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

The Zapatista Army of National Liberation publicly opposed the project on the 26th anniversary of its armed uprising in January 1, 2020. It has pointed to the displacement of indigenous people, destruction of jungle habitats and wildlife and the continued environmental degradation which will result in the construction. Groups close to the National Indigenous Congress plan to seek injunctions against the train project and other mega-projects in the region. The CNI is looking at three-pronged action: social awareness campaigns, media campaigns, and legal actions. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

On January 28, 2020, a judge in Campeche issued a temporary injunction against construction of the railway. The president has agreed that the route will not pass through the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in the state of Campeche.⠀In November 2020 the Regional Indigenous Council of Xpujil delivered a petition with 268,000 signatures asking that the project be suspended because of environmental concerns. ⠀In January 2021 residents of Chocholá, Mérida, and Izamal obtained temporary delays in construction until environmental impact assessments are completed. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

As of January 2021 initial construction crews have uncovered more than 8000 articfacts and ancient structures have been uncovered.

Mass tourism does not equal progress. The Yucatan has been an intersection of colonization, invasion, treasure hunting, commerce and trade for centuries. The Caribbean coastline, marketed today as the "Mayan Riviera" has experienced a steady increase in tourism during the last century. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Beginning in the 1950's a combined interest in centuries old Spanish shipwrecks and improvements made to scuba diving technology as a result of WWII brought tourists to the coast line between Cancun and Tulum. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

In the early 1970's the first hotel went up in the newly named 'Cancun' area. It now has the second busiest airport in all of Mexico and is responsible for one third of the tourist economy of the country, if you include the so called 'Mayan Riviera' that number increases to 50%. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

In the most recent decades the impact of mass tourism and overwhelming numbers of unethical investors in Cancun has resulted in intense ecological damage. The removal of dunes and grasses, the weight of hotel buildings on what is a very narrow sand bar and the massive structures blocking natural wind flow from sea to lagoon have disrupted the balance of beautiful beaches and the sand is eroding quickly. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

In 2005 after hurricane Wilma the beaches in Cancun were completely stripped of sand, all the way down to rock. The governments response was to dredge the ocean floor near the island of Cozumel and replace millions of metric tons of sand to the beach front properties of mega hotels and resorts that are important to the tourist industry. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Then it happened again. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

There is no real actionable plan as of now about how to stop this process - except the obvious, remove hotels and reduce tourism. The proposed Tren Maya will not make this problem better, the increase in tourism will absolutely put exponentially more pressure on the already struggling eco-syetem of the Cancun area.

During our last visit to the Yucatan we arrived with a plan to learn. We scheduled appointments with six real estate agents from a range of businesses formats; two different styles of local businesses, two with international branches, an independent agent 'just starting out' and a large investment firm.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

We spent a week driving around the Tulum area with these very different people, listening. We hoped to understand more about the plans for the obviously booming development and to gain perspective on what were the motivating factors driving the expansion. It is a place after all that is infused with our personal memories of family and childhood, a place we love, and what we learned is that it is changing very very quickly.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

We visited completely undeveloped staked out properties deep in what was still jungle. Driving for hours down freshly cut dirt roads as agents tried to navigate property lines from brand new maps that even they hadn't seen yet. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

We visited properties with newly built model houses surrounded by undeveloped plots without electricity or water or sewage infrastructures in place. And mega condo complexes each air conditioned unit boasting miniature infinity pools surrounded by single story jungle homes crisscrossed with laundry lines and small gardens. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

We learned about the colonial property laws left over from the Spanish division of huge tracts of land parceled out and still owned by the same families. And we learned about the massive 'eco-sheik' construction boom that drew international attention and foreign money, appropriating indigenous technology for the benefit of wealthy eco-tourists.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Everywhere we went agents spoke of the new road through the jungle that would someday reach the beach developments of Tulum that were moving at an equally all consuming pace. Prices for properties rose or fell depending on their proximity to this future road.

"Mexico is so cheap!" intersectionality is an important way to analyze your impact when you travel. How are you harming the places you visit? The common mentality that one country is 'cheap' is a direct result of imperialism and a global economic system that is manipulated in order maintain that imperialism. When you contribute to a system of oppression and a mentality that values some over others based on their price tag you are part of that imperialism. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

The impact of mass tourism in the so called 'Riviera Maya' is not isolated to environmental devastation, Cancun for example has some of the highest rates of suicide and addiction in all of Mexico. Municipal services like waste and trash have also had difficulty keeping up with the accelerating traffic from the tourist industry. Some reports are beginning to outline the impact of contamination from landfills and sewage on the ground water and as a result the unique underground ecosystem of interconnected fresh water cenotes.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

If you travel make the effort to consider where your money is going? Are you haggling with the artisan on the street about their price and paying multiples of that price at the hotel bar for your imported cocktail? How is your stay directly benefiting the people who call that place home? Are you there to engage or to 'check out' and if so who is making that relaxation possible for you? How are you supporting the empowerment of the people you engage with along the way? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

These questions require intersectional thinking, our actions do not take place in a void, they are choices. As the summer season in the Northern Hemisphere opens up to holiday travel for many, we wish you the humanity to care for your impact as you journey.