Examining tourism-based development: a historic and socio-economic comparison of Tulum and Punta Allen, Mexico

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Tourism in Quintana Roo, Mexico, has been widely studied with an increasing focus on the implications that tourism and the accompanying immigration and commercialisation of cultures have on the culture and identity of local communities. This research examines two towns experiencing different types of tourism growth and issues therein: Tulum—once a fishing village, now a hippie-chic luxury tourism destination rapidly becoming a mass tourism hotspot—and Punta Allen—a cooperative-based fishing settlement in the Sian Ka"an Biosphere Reserve that provides a limited amount of ecotourism.

This presentation will recount relevant background context in comparing Tulum and Punta Allen, and will then discuss the results of analysing socio-economic household interview data and focus group data from both towns collected under the Land2Coast project. Briefly, research into identifying illegal developments from aerial images of Tulum and Holbox will be presented.