�PAGE �
Understanding Travel and Tourism
Introduction
This paper shall give a complete overview of why Mexico is an ideal tourist destination. It shall cover all the push and pull factors as well as motivation which attract tourists.
International tourism become an essential economic activity in Mexico after the world war11, due to a shift that was developed from the political economy to finding alternative approaches that are mostly empirical in nature, therefore tourism became a suitable alternative.
Analysis
History
Tourism began to flourish in the 1940's. "A strong campaign to attract visitors was designed during the regain of administration of President Avila Com aeho (1940 to 19466)" (Berger p19). President Miguel Aleman realized the significance of tourism , and thus introduced a policy that gave momentum to highway construction, air transport transportation and development of the country's hotel services. Alejandro Buelna was given the passion of head of the department to restructure the tourist department.
Aqueduct City of Mexico
The territory ceded to the United States of Americ...
Mexico - Tlalpan cadets approaching palace (LOC)The press radio chains as well as motion picture industry to the United States were requested to send managers, publishers, and directors as visitors on behalf of Mexican government. Ever since then the number of tourist started to double and recently it hs reached sky high
Geography
Mexico is the fourth largest country in the Western Hemisphere, consisting of 756,066 square miles. This would be slightly less than three times the size of Texas. "In the north Mexico's border meets United States, and in the south it 's border meets with Belize and Guatemala, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean on the east, and the Pacific Ocean on the west" (Marx p5).
Mexico can be divided into different physical regions, which consist of the Gulf Coast plains, Yucatan the Peninsula, the Southern Highlands, the Chiapas Highlands, and the Baja California Peninsula. Mexico's peak point is Pico de Orizaba. This is a volcanic peak; it is approximately 18,406 feet above sea level. Mexico's lowest point is Lake Salada. This is twenty six feet underneath the sea level. (See appendix for map)
Religion
During the colonial period, the Spanish imposed the Roman Catholic religion on the indigenous population. During this time period all other religions were prohibited. Although the urban form of religion differed from the rural form of religion, the population of Catholic still remains large. A combination of indigenous practice, along with Catholicism, was tolerated by local priest and bishops. Due to the mixture of indigenous practices, most rural and indigenous peoples were never fully converted to Christianity.
Mexico's 1917 constitution granted freedom of religion. Ninety percent of the Mexican population identifies itself as Catholic. In recent years the Protestant religion has grown among rural areas and Native Americans. With the remaining being five percent Protestant, four percent atheists. Even though religious attendance declined severely in the 20th century, it is regaining its appeal among younger Mexicans.
Motivation
Motivation is a kind of behavior which is usually goal orientated. It is usually strengthened by means of rewards thus when we consider motivation in tourism then it is the pleasure and sense of relaxation one gets when he visits a certain destination
Culture
Family and traditional values play an important role in the Mexican life style. Even though women are an increasing figure in the labor force, many continue to work at home. Most children typically remain at home longer than their counterparts in the United States. Women in middle and upper-income households typically have outside help with cleaning, meals and child-care.
In urban parts of Mexico, the fashion is similar to the modern Europe and United States. In the rural parts traditional clothing is worn, as well as the native dresses which a lot of Native Americans still wear.
Mexican food is unique, and can differ depending on where you are, and on the expense. Most Mexican's diet's consist of beans, rice, corn or wheat tortillas, chili peppers, and tomatoes. I love the spicy foods they cook. Many middle and upper class families consume a wide variety of dishes, similar to a trend influenced by the United States and Europe. The consumption of soft drinks, per capita is one of the highest in Mexico. Mexican beer is famous throughout the United States and it's also popular in its own country. In recent years the quality of Mexico's wine, brandy, and tequila has been increasing, and is being manufactured on a large scale.
Soccer is considered as their national sport, they also enjoy traditional bull fights. Many Mexicans also enjoy movies, music, and shows of many forms ( television, theater, talent, etc"æ) I would go listen to their music and watched their shows on the television set in my hotel room, I found the programs quite entertaining.
Beaches
Mexico has several characteristics that make it a paradise for tourists coming from all parts of the world, especially from cold climates. This country has beautiful places, from wet jungles, to dry deserts; the most visited places are the beaches such as Acapulco, Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, Los Cabos, among others, and the typical Mexican towns like San Miguel, Taxco, or Tequila. Mexico besides being beautiful and having a great climate, has also very nice persons that welcome foreigners, and a really delicious and spicy food, which varies a lot from state to state.
The beaches are really warm and sunny most of the year that is why in vacation periods hotels report almost full occupancy and you can see sometimes more foreigners, especially US citizens, than Mexicans in a hotel. Mexico has a lot to offer to the whole family, the beaches have many restaurants, clubs, and activities that make tourists like me have a great time.
The Mexican Caribbean is one of our top tourism destination's attracting countless tourists every year, primarily a young crowd. Worldwide recognized for its white sand beaches and an amazing clear blue sea, offering visitors several options to practice water sports such as scuba diving, snorkeling and surfing, as well as many other land activities for the whole family including shopping, dining and nightlife. The fact that Mexico had lots to keep me busy, made me realize that I had never had so much fun in my life. I especially enjoyed the scuba diving and dining.
Not only the beaches are greatly visited, the city of Oaxaca was one of the favorites among foreigners because of all the flavors and colors it had, but the violence ended with the beauty and security of that place, as it is ending with Acapulco. This was the most relaxing place to visit , I really loved the clear clean water and cool breeze.
Mexico is a very rich country in culture and resources, It would say it is definitely a paradise, but the tourists have to be very careful with all the natural resources they have, they need to be cleaner in order no to damage the beautiful beaches, towns and cities that we have, because if we keep on polluting, one day Mexico will no longer be a paradise. Acapulco is about to loose it's reputation of being paradise due to the recent increase of crime and pollution.
Ecological tourism is a new option that tourists have in order to learn to like and take care of nature, the country has many options in this kind of tourism, and so tourists should take advantage of it and enjoy it.
Cancun is one of the coastal Mexican cities located on the eastern part of the state of Quintana Roo. The city can categorically be described as a tourist resort that is world renowned. This is because" it has many features of a tourist destination such as modern beachfronts, narrow shaped island, green packs, historical monuments beautiful sceneries and accessible transport means" (Murray pp.339).
Originally Cancun was a barrier island 17 kilometers long. It only had a few of crude shelters which were constructed by local fishermen. "The development of the city of Cancun resulted from a study undertaken by Banco de Mexico on how to capture more dollars and other forms of foreign exchange through the utilization of tourism" (Murray pp.340).
There are various factors that contributed to Mexico being a mass tourism destination which includes its location. Features such as contact to the open sea offered sufficient support to a wide range of marine life and sufficient beach resorts for tourists. Investments made on Mexico by the governmental agency and external bodies such the American Development bank.
Climate
Climate Mexico's climate is as varied as its regions, but overall has a tropical to desert climate. Mexico has many different types of deserts, beaches, large mountain ranges, dense rain forests, volcanoes, and snow-capped mountains. It even has a few natural hazards which include hurricanes on the Gulf of Mexico as well as Caribbean coasts, and dangerous tsunamis near the Pacific coast, and volcanoes and earthquakes in the central and southern areas.
Resistance factors
Unstable government
The fact that it has an unstable government also affects the tourism. Along with the greed and dishonesty of the government, a record of politically unstable government, and a numerous active interest groups, has highly effected it's tourism.
Cost
The cost of the hotel along with air fare is quite reasonable. The air fare ranges from $441 to $897. While the hotel rates range from $160 to $60 per day. I remember quite clearly going through a lot of options for a good vacation, then I came across the cost of a trip to Mexico , it was really cheap and I knew that it was a beautiful place to visit .
Push factors
Economy
.Tourism has brought about direct economic impacts such as the creation of job opportunities to the region. For instance in the year 2005 most of the jobs allocated to people were mainly linked to the tourism industry. Quintana Roo has also been a major contributor to the Mexican GDP as a result of advancement in Tourism. "Local farmers, ranchers and fishermen have also found market for their products" (Daltabuit p9 ). Other countries in the region seem to have the same trade pattern as Mexico (a strong dependence on the United States). One advantage though the Mexican's have, and this is the large corporations that have settled in Mexico in the recent years. "Even though this creates an unequal dispersion of wealth at least there is some kind of mass economic activity "(Daltabuit & Pi-Sunyer p10). An important source of income for all those in the region is agriculture, for the countries in the Caribbean Sea we can say that tourism is increasingly more important and more profitable then agriculture.
Industries
According to Economy Statistics (2010) "Major industries in Mexico are tobacco, food and beverages, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, and tourism" .
Mexico has moved toward diversified manufacturing in the 1990's. Manufacturing includes two important subsections: assembly and light manufacturing sector, (known as maquiladoras) located mostly on the northern border with the United States and the sector that includes industries like steel making and automobile manufacturing centers. Most of these are in the urban area of the Districto Federal and Mexico state, and the cities of Monterrey and Guadalajara.
Leisure activities ( social factor)
Tourist usually enjoy , seeing all the beautiful hotels, palm trees, and the Caribbean Sea white sand, and water vibrant shades of green and blue is like nothing which tourist have ever seen. The sun beating down makes the water look very inviting. At time it will start raining and thus cool down the hot weather. There is a lot to do there like half hour ferry ride to a little island, where there were many things to do, such as snorkeling, scuba diving, and kayaking.
Tourism rating
It is the world's 10th most famous tourist destinations in national tourism and the top most visited tourism destination in Latin America
Means of travel
They are quite developed so much so that they have all kinds of means of travel for their tourists. The transfer companies engaged to pick passengers up.
Car Rental can be prearranged by car rental agencies which are usually situated in the arrival area of the International Airport, and even in a few hotels.
The most suitable and inexpensive means of transport there,, is a taxi and the buses. Taxis can be available anywhere and at nay time of the day. The best part about them is that they do not have any fixed price and the passenger can negotiate the price. The buses are quite well managed. They only stop at fixed stops, and can be quite useful for tourist who like to travel along the coast. This was the best mode of transport for me when I was there, I would call a taxi and he would know exactly where I wanted to go . I did not have to tell him any directions
Demographic factors
Population
Mexico's population was estimated to be about 100,294,036 in July 1999 (Mexico's population was estimated to be about 100,294,036 in July 1999). Mexico's population increased rapidly after preventive health care measures and improved living standards increased the life span of infants, in 1940. Mexico's four most populated cities are Mexico City (8,831,079), Guadalajara (1,626,152), Netzahualcoyotl (1,314,230) and Monterrey (1,090,099). The least populated state is Baja California.
Ethnic Groups
Mexico's population is mostly made up of mestizos, who make up about 80 percent of the population. Indigenous peoples make up approximately 8 percent of the population. European people including Spanish, make up about 9 percent of the population. About 2 percent of all Mexicans are immigrants from different continents. Africans also belong to Mexico's ethnic groups.
Native Americans are living in the regions of Mexico where native civilizations were located at the time of the Spanish conquest.. The state of Yucatan, where the Maya civilization was founded, has the highest rate of Mexicans who speak a Native American language, which is about 44 percent. The state of Oaxaca is second with 39 percent, Yucatan's neighboring states of Quintana Roo and Chiapas, have about 32 percent and 26 percent. According to Ethnicity and Language (2010)"The states of Hidalgo and Puebla also have a high number of Native Americans.".
Urbanization
Puerto Cancun continues its consolidation with important advances in its urbanization process, especially the introduction of basic infrastructure, now showing a general advance of 75%. "More than 110 million dollars will be invested in top-quality infrastructure" (Puerto Cancun shows great sales success p1).
Barriers
Quintana Roo as a place with extreme physical stratification due to the fact that the expansion for tourism in the region has resulted to class differences among people therefore those who have gained much from the tourism sector do not live within the Same areas an the poor. The social impacts of tourism in Quintana Roo include the development of conflicting cultural practices within this particular tourist environment. Criminal activities, prostitution and drug use have also increased which affect many especially young people.
The environmental impact of tourism in the region is linked to changes in land usage, loss of habitat due to a reduction in agricultural practices. Government experts and anthropologists have also highlighted that region is facing the challenge of faunal crisis which is a scientific term linked to the extinction of wild animals, whereby animals that depend on forest growth are increasingly disappearing.
"There is deep sense of ambivalence or uncertainty about the future of Cancun due to the fact that Cancun can basically be described as a development that is troubled, both in the demographic view point and the environmental view point" (Murray pp. 352).
Pull factors
Affordability
As mentioned earlier the air fare and accommodation are quite reasonable. Apart from this the shopping and food are also quite affordable. There are many reasonable places to shop and eat where you get good quality in low prices. When I visited Mexico, I remember I bought gifts for the entire family as well as lots of souvenirs for my self for a very reasonable price.
Peace and safety
Mexico is completely safe place for tourist since it is the one of the top tourist destinations in the world. The drug dealers do not really bother tourists unless they poke their noses in their dealings. In Mexico I could freely move about without worrying if a drug dealer would come and offer me something to buy. Thus it can be said that the environment is quite safe.
Pro-tourism policies
Mexico's present tourism policy 's objective is to raise the competitiveness of the most significant parts of the country and centers whilst redefining their fundamental product, making their environment better, adding value by introducing different kinds of activities, giving consumers better access, reorienting the supply to markets with the utmost response possible, and using as many as distribution channels as possible.
�
Brochure
Come Visit the Lovely Beaches of Mexico
Experience It's Vibrant Culture and Food
Mexico is famous for it's lovely beaches and rich Spanish culture. Tourist enjoy the food and warm sun, they feel quite relaxed at the end of the day.
SUMMER PACKAGE INCLUDES:
Accommodation starting from only $90 per night (Twin Sharing )
Accommodation starting from only $120 per night (Single Sharing )
Bed n Breakfast included
Complimentary pick and drop from airport to destination
Complimentary tours to the beaches and tourist destinations
*Air fare depends on the customer's choice
�
Conclusion
Thus it can be said that the above mention tourist destination in Mexico is an ideal for tourist who want to enjoy the hot summer sun and pleasant climate. The fact that their government has worked hard to improve their tourism in the past few years prove the fact that tourism is something quite serious for them.
Their climate, culture and cost make it even more attractive for the tourists. The prefect urbanization and wonderful mode of transportation serves as a source of satisfaction for tourist. Thus to conclude it can be said that Mexico is a prefect tourist destination.
�
Workcited
Berger Dina; The Development of Mexico's Tourism Industry: Pyramids by Day, Martinis by Night Palgrave MacMillan 2006 p 19
Daltabuit, Magali, 1990, Tourism Development in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Cultural Survival Quarterly (1990):14.2, 9-13.